Rogue Rex propeller landed in bushland track just metres from suburban homes on Sandakan St
THE rogue propeller that sheared off a Rex Airlines aircraft, landed just 100m from houses on Sandakan St in Revesby. Resident Lisa Vanwoudenberg said it would have turned her house into a duplex.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A FRACTION of a second is all it could have taken to turn a tale of luck into tragedy, but fortunately for residents on Sandakan St, time was on their side.
The rogue propeller, that sheared off a Rex Airlines aircraft, landed just 100m from houses on the Revesby street, safely nearby in the Gurawak Fire trail.
Authorities discovered the 100kg propeller last Tuesday, five days after it detached from the Saab 340 was carrying 16 passengers from Albury.
Sandakan St resident, Lisa Vanwoudenberg, whose house was 200m from the crash site, still can’t believe her luck.
“It’s amazing really, the damage would have been intense,” Mrs Vanwoudenberg said.
“It basically would have turned our house into a permanent duplex.”
Authorities still don’t know what caused the propeller to detach from the aircraft, and Australian Traffic and Safety Bureau chief commissioner Greg Hood said it was a mission to even find it.
Mr Hood said the flight data recorder from the aircraft was used to help locate the missing aircraft piece.
“It was like finding a needle in a haystack,” Mr Hood said.
“We were able to take data off the flight data recorder and that told us the exact time the propeller had separated form the aircraft.
“From that we took the (latitude and longitude), we took the velocity of the aeroplane, the height of 8000 feet, the wind speed and we calculated a rough area in which we were looking for the propeller.”
The propeller was winched from the bushland last Wednesday and taken to Bankstown Airport for investigation.
A report is expected to be publicly released within a month.
After a steady stream of news crews and cameras, life is slowly coming back to normal in quiet Sandakan St.
CLASH OF TITANS
But Ms Vanwoudenberg said locals won’t forget the incident quickly.
“We’ve lived here for 20 years, and it’s the most excitement we’ve ever seen,” she said.
“This area is a piece of paradise, so I guess it puts our paradise in the history books.”
$355m loss: NSW worst pokie hotspots
This is where NSW pokie players have lost more than $355 million in four months. Search and check our interactive table to see if it’s where you live and how your suburb compares.
Real estate agent’s mental health plea after awkward cocaine find
A Sydney real estate agent who was discovered hiding cocaine in his underpants while in police custody has had his matter dismissed on mental health grounds. Here’s the latest.