A plane door fell from the sky. What happened next is the most Aussie thing ever
A fisherman who narrowly escaped with his life appeared unfazed and continued to fish after a plane door fell from the sky and landed metres from him.
A fisherman who narrowly escaped with his life appeared unfazed and continued to fish after a plane door fell from the sky and landed metres from him.
Locals watched in horror as a small plane door started plummeting from the sky towards a fisherman who was standing on South Broulee Beach, on NSWs South Coast, at about 9.30am on Friday.
The door of a small plane had broken free from the aircraft - and locals were terrified it would harm someone on the ground.
Murphy Shaw, 22, was visiting from Canberra so he could surf at South Broulee Beach and told Daily Mail Australia he was in the water with about 10 other surfers.
The plane was flying over which was pretty usual for that area, he said.
But there was a bit of a commotion in the water and all of a sudden I looked up and there was door sort of hurtling towards the earth.
The student said he initially thought it was coming straight for the surf.
But as it got a bit lower you could see it was going to land on the beach, Mr Shaw said.
Murphy Shaw, 22, from Canberra, (pictured) was having a morning surf at South Broulee Beach when he saw a planes door hurtling down
The student (pictured) said he thought the door was going to land in the surf, but as it got closer he and the other surfers believed it was going to land on a fisherman
And it was going to land pretty close to pretty much the only guy on the beach, who was this man fishing.
We were like "oh no, its headed for that bloke over there".
The 22-year-old said it was at that moment everyone in the water tried to get the fishermans attention without any luck, as he was about 100 metres away from the surfers.
He didnt duck for cover, he just kept fishing, he said.
And the door ended up landing 20 metres behind him - but he just went about his business and kept fishing.
He didnt really care at all. He just cast his line back out and kept on fishing.
Mr Shaw said the moment he saw the door falling from the sky, it didnt feel real.
I guess its one of those weird, surreal moments where youre like "thats a glitch in the Matrix, I shouldnt be seeing that", he said.
Its a weird mix of emotions. Luckily in the end, no-one was hurt.
The student said when the door landed it made a big thud and a crack, with the student believing it must have landed on some driftwood.
The door crashed to the ground with a thud and a crack, landing in the scrub behind the sand - and missing the fisherman by 20 metres (pictured South Broulee Beach on NSWs South Coast)
The private aircraft turned back to Moruya airport after it lost its door after its latch was not secured properly
Mr Shaw said not long after the plane door crashed to the ground in the scrub behind the beach, someone arrived and carried the door away.
It is understood it was taken back to the airport.
A Eurobodalla Shire Council spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the door had detached from a private aircraft.
The pilot and passenger made a normal landing, returning safely to Moruya Airport, they said.
The door was found in bushland just north of the airport.
The pilot informed airport staff that the door latch was not secured properly and apologised for any anxiety the incident may have caused.
The spokesperson said that the council reported the incident to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and it is up to them if they will investigate.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that they had received the report about the plane.
The ATSB determined not to conduct an investigation, as it was deemed unlikely it would yield any new safety lessons, they said.
The ATSB is not a regulator, it is an independent investigator with the task of conducting ‘no blame’ investigations to improve transport safety.
