'Bit of a bang': Neighbour first on scene at plane crash
A MELAWONDI man who was among the first on the scene at today's plane crash was shocked to find a familiar face had crawled from the wreckage.
Wayne Gallagher was at his home about 500m away from the crash site when he heard the light plane smash into the side of the hill after it clipped a fence on its landing approach.
"I just heard the plane come down, a bit of a bang, that's it," he said.
By the time he arrived, the plane's two occupants had already freed themselves from the wreckage.
_t1880.jpg "The plane crashed on a private property at Melawondi near Kandanga.")
One of the men was Chris de Vere, a local pilot Mr Gallagher knew.
The Kenilworth First Response unit arrived at about the same time as Mr Gallagher.
Emergency crews soon followed, and the two men were assessed for minor injuries.
Both were taken to Gympie Hospital to be checked for spinal injuries.
"I never thought this would happen," Mr Gallagher said.
"It's not something you see every day."
