Two Royal Geelong Yacht Club staff members rescued a pilot and two passengers from a joy-flight seaplane after it crashed and flipped into Corio Bay on Tuesday.
Yacht club general manager Phil Clohesy said it was “fortunate” marina supervisor Paul Walters and Matt Ash were “so close” when they heard the Bay City Seaplane pilot’s mayday call.
“Their response was very immediate as they were only a few hundred metres away working on the Festival of Sails preparations,” Mr Clohesy said.
“When they got there the pilot had already helped the two passengers involved in the crash to get on top the plane’s floating pontoons.”
Mr Clohesy said the rescuers struggled to lift the passengers and pilot from the plane’s pontoons and into a boat.
“The pilot was very good and supportive in helping the passengers.”
Mr Clohesy said festival organisers had ironically considered during a briefing session just hours before the accident a mock rescue scenario involving a downed plane.
“We wrote it as highly unlikely and then four hours later it happened.”
Barwon Health said the pilot and his female passenger were discharged from Geelong Hospital but a male passenger remained in a stable condition on Wednesday when the Independent went to press.
Bay City Seaplanes’ chief pilot Greg Bolton declined to comment while the crash was the “subject of investigation”.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed it was investigating.
Spokesperson Daniel O’Malley said bureau investigators would conduct interviews and complete “background research” to understand what happened.
Mr O’Malley expected the investigation could take up to a year but “clear information” from the people involved incident could lessen the time.
American daredevil Bam Margera had planned a stunt involving the seaplane the day it crashed.
Bay City Seaplanes personnel delayed the stunt minutes before, telling the Jackass star they were concerned about wind.
Margera initially believed members of his staff were on board the seaplane when it crashed.
He cancelled the stunt afterward.
“Well, I’m not getting on that f…ing plane now, that’s for sure,” he said.
