Source : Perth Now news
This is the heart-stopping moment a light aircraft pilot narrowly avoided catastrophe in a near miss that shocked Queensland beachgoers earlier this week.The dramatic scene unfolded at K’gari beach – formerly known as Fraser Island – in Queensland, with footage emerging on social media earlier this week.
It shows a light aircraft swoop towards the ground, seemingly destined for disaster, before making sudden adjustments and avoiding a crash landing.
The video was posted on social media days ago before being reposted by 9 News’ social media pages and featuring on the Today show.
As the plane careers towards the beach, an onlooker is heard to say “what the hell?” while a second comments “that’s not right”.
At the most dramatic moment, the plane appears to be just metres away from crashing onto the shore before abruptly changing course.
“I thought it was going to take the bank out,” another onlooker is heard to say.
One witness to the dramatic incident described what they saw on social media.
“It was like they were playing magpie and swooping the bikes. We thought the plane was in trouble to start with,” Kimberly Pope commented on Facebook.
It’s not the first time the Queensland beach has been the scene of a dramatic aviation incident.
In October 2023, footage captured the moment a car and a plane almost collided as the aircraft was taking off close to the beach.
And in April 2025, a gyrocopter pilot suffered injuries following a crash landing at the World Heritage-listed site.
The sole occupant of the aircraft, a man in his 50s, was found unconscious but breathing following the fiery wreck.
The pilot suffered face, hip and leg injuries but survived after being rescued by a scuba diver.
It happened on Friday, April 18, 2025 near the island’s Moon Point camping area.
It is not clear precisely where on K’gari this week’s near miss occurred.
Discussing it on the Today show, former Qantas pilot Richard de Crespigny said it looked like the plane was coming in “well below the minimum altitude required by law”.
“It looks like it’s almost attacking someone on the beach. This is perhaps reckless, endangers the pilot and the aircraft and endangers the people on the beach,” he said.
“This is not how aviation should be executed.”
A Cival Aviation Safety Authority spokesman encouraged anybody with information regarding the incident to report it to the authority.
“We take all reports relating to aviation safety seriously. Based on the video provided, we strongly encourage people who were on the beach to provide further information to us via our website so we can establish the facts,” the CASA spokesman said in a statement.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed it had not been notified of the incident.
