A PILOT, aged in his 60s, has suffered serious chest and head injuries after being forced to make an emergency crash landing in a paddock at Putty on Monday night.
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An Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokesman told the Newcastle Herald a major search operation had been launched about 5pm after a Cessna travelling between Mudgee and Luskintyre Airfield was discovered to be overdue by more than 40 minutes.
A larger aircraft had picked up a distress signal while flying over Central West NSW and alerted AMSA.
The pilot had taken off from Ballarat, stopped for a scheduled refuelling at Mudgee before continuing on to Luskintyre, AMSA said.
But it is believed he got into trouble or ran out of fuel while flying over Putty and was forced to make an emergency landing.
The pilot, who was flying alone, suffered serious chest and head injuries in the landing and was stranded for some time until the Hunter’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter managed to home in on the emergency beacon and locate him.
The helicopter flew the man to John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition.
AMSA said as a number of aircraft were searching the flight path, they were contacted by a person on the ground who said they had found the wreckage of a plane and the injured pilot.
