Emergency landing kills sunbathers
LISBON, PORTUGAL •Two sunbathers died when a light plane made an emergency landing on a packed beach near Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday afternoon.
A girl, aged eight, who was on the beach with her parents, was killed along with a 56-year-old man.
Hundreds of sunbathers were on the popular beach at Caparica, 30 kilometres south of Lisbon. August is a prime time when Portuguese take their vacation.
The small aircraft, reportedly a Cessna, carrying two people appeared to be in difficulty and wobbled as it skimmed low over the sunbathers, scattering them and spreading panic on the beach, witnesses said.
The witnesses said some sunbathers ran into the sea to escape the plane’s path.
The plane appeared to have a partly broken left wing, which hung lower than the right wing, Portuguese television pictures showed.
It is believed the plane was from a local flying club and was carrying a trainee pilot and an instructor. Some reports said a mob surrounded the plane after it crash-landed and verbally abused the pilot calling him a “killer.”
The BBC reported the Diario de Noticias newspaper quoting an eyewitness who said the plane had been flying at a low altitude, although he did not realize anything was wrong until other beachgoers began running.
One young witness told Reuters news agency: “I was near the water when I saw the plane. I called my parents, the plane fell on the sand and ran over two people, fatally hurting them and another was injured, I think, but I’m not sure, people were running away.
“The plane is still there, but the ambulances arrived quickly. I think maybe the fuel ran out because I find it weird that it landed on the beach.”
The two occupants of the plane were unhurt and were being questioned by police.