Tiger Moth pilot guides troubled plane away from golfers and swimmers for emergency landing

Beachgoers were stunned to see a bright yellow Tiger Moth plane make an emergency landing on a Newcastle beach on Sunday after the aircraft started to cough and splutter while over the ocean forcing pilot Charlotte Zeederberg to navigate towards land.

Beachgoers were stunned when a bright yellow Tiger Moth plane had to make an emergency landing on a Newcastle Beach on Sunday after the aircraft began losing power.

The pilot, Charlotte Zeederberg, said she had to steer the stricken plane away from a crowded golf course and headed towards the beach before she found a spot away from people to land.

Charlotte Zeederberg made a spectacular emergency landing on Blacksmith’s Beach in her 1942 Tiger Moth. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Ms Zeederberg said the plane began to cough and splutter while she was over the ocean around Nobbys Beach and she headed to a nearby airstrip but the mechanical problems with the 77-year-old plane got worse.

“I was going to land at Belmont Golf course but there were far too many people to do it safely,” 52 year-old Ms Zeederberg said.

“I was losing altitude quickly and had to land on the beach.”

Ms Zeederberg, from the Central Coast, said she was able to get the plane to a fairly remote part of the beach when the power just suddenly died.

The bright yellow plane stunned beachgoers as it came in for an emergency landing. Picture: Peter Lorimer

She put the plane down on the hardest sand she could find about 5 metres from the water line.

A pilot for 13 years, Ms Zeederberg was flying along side another two Tiger Moth enthusiasts who had all taken off from Luskintyre Airport at Maitland just after 11am.

“After about thirty minutes I started to experience some problems so I radioed the other two and said I was heading for the beach,’’ she said.

“Then I did what I was taught to do in these situations and everything came out well.’’

Emergency services and nearby rangers were flooded with calls from people on the beach and golf course who could see the plane was in trouble.

The 1942 Tiger Moth is towed through thick sand to a spot where it could be moved off the beach. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Local beach official John Hoy said he headed for the beach when he got the calls.

“She did a terrific job,’’ he said. “You could see her come over Red Head Bluff with two other planes when the trouble started,’’ Mr Hoy said.

“Parts of the beach were really crowded but she was able to get to where it was pretty deserted. Luckily it’s a long beach.”

Ms Zeederberg and her husband have owned the plane, built in 1942, for six years and are now making arrangements to transport it from the beach on to a trailer so it could be worked on.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident.