Plane Crashes Into Big Wheel In Australia

A light aircraft has crashed into a Ferris wheel in eastern Australia trapping four people in the tangled wreckage.

The plane, a Cheetah S200, was carrying two men and became embedded in the big wheel which managed to stay upright.

Two children were trapped in one of the wheel's carriages just inches from the plane.

The crash happened during a three-day rural festival at Old Bar, a coastal village 220 miles north of Sydney.

Jesse Arndell, nine, and his 13-year-old sister Amber where trapped in a carriage at the top of the wheel near the wrecked plane for 90 minutes.

The 53-year-old pilot and his 32-year-old passenger were stuck inside the aircraft, hanging from their seatbelts, for almost three hours.

A crane was used to free the children and occupants of the plane and no one was injured.

Amber Arndell told Seven News: "When I turned around there was just this big plane right behind me I was so scared, Jesse was screaming."

Her brother, who is autistic, said: "I was freaking out that the crane was going to take forever."

Ben Shepherd, from the Rural Fire Service, said: "Thankfully, everyone was taken down and were able to walk away from it."

Fizal Meah, a witness, said one of the children in a carriage below the area of impact was struck by debris and was left distraught but uninjured.

Mr Meah said: "Because the rain was stopping and starting, stopping and starting, it (the ride) was almost empty.

"A few minutes earlier, it was chockers. We were so, so lucky with the weather."

Local resident Gary Jones said his nine-year-old twin sons were among the last to ride the Ferris wheel before the crash.

"It was a hell of a shock," Mr Jones said.

Police and air safety investigators were at the scene on Saturday.

The plane, owned and piloted by a local man, had just taken off from a nearby airstrip when it crashed, Mr Meah said.