According to rescuers, the pilot of the Wingwalker plane that crashed in the port during the air show deserved a medal.
This two-seater biplane was participating in the Bournemouth Aviation Festival when it landed Poole Harbour Near Sandbanks on Saturday afternoon.
Libby Chambers, her partner Alan Badenhorst and their three children have been watching the air show on the dinghy and witnessed the crash.
Ms. Chambers told the Bournemouth Echo: “The pilot was very direct. I remember he pulled the Wingwalker out. She was really in a pretty state-she was terrified and couldn’t stop screaming.”
The family went to rescue the pilot and the Wingwalker and pulled them into the boat.
“The pilot is great, he deserves a medal-I don’t know how he missed the rocks, the markers and the boat-he just left the world,” Ms. Chambers added.
Witness Gil Jarvis, 50 years old, from Christchurch When she saw the plane crash, she was riding an open-top bus with her daughter.
“We haven’t fully embarked on the Swanage ferry, it happened before our eyes,” she told PA News Agency.
“I think the engine is off and it’s quiet. So you really can’t hear anything. Then it suddenly fell into the sea.”
She described hearing the news of the crew’s survival as “a huge relief.”
Organizers of the exhibition, which attracts thousands of people each year, said that the flight schedule for the rest of the day has been suspended, but Sunday went on as planned.
After the incident on Saturday yesterday, the site was protected and the public was asked to avoid the area.
The aircraft will be retrieved in due course, subject to tides and port traffic.
“We want to thank RNLI Coast guard The Southwest Ambulance, Dorset Police, Poole Harbour Commissioner and everyone involved in the rescue of two people on the plane,” the organizer said.
“For all those who participated in the aviation festival, this was a huge relief. The incident resulted in the exhibitors being safely removed from the water.”
