Plane crash-lands in Melbourne backyard

A pilot and her passenger have walked away from a light plane crash in a Melbourne
backyard, just metres from the start of the Moorabbin Airport runway.
The two-seater plane clipped the roof of a house before crashing in a neighbouring
backyard, on Lower Dandenong Road, Mordialloc, about 3.45pm (AEST) on Saturday.
The female pilot and her male passenger, believed to be on an aerial photography
mission, were able to climb from the wreckage unhurt.
"There was no-one in the house at the time and the pilot and passenger did not
suffer any serious injuries," a police spokesman said.
Paramedics say it was miraculous they were able to walk away from the crash.
"The plane has clipped the roof of one house and landed in the backyard of an
adjoining house," said Ambulance Victoria spokesman Ray Rowe.
"It was a miraculous escape - (the pilot and passenger) were shaken from the
experience but not injured.
"They were checked over by paramedics and did not need to go to hospital."
The plane was coming in to land and just fell short of the runway.
The police spokesman described the plane as a write-off.
"It will never fly again," he told AAP.
"It's ended up against a wall and between the house and a swimming pool.
"It's badly damaged yet the house has just lost a few tiles from the top of the roof."
In April a 72-year-old pilot was trying to land his Piper Warrior craft at Moorabbin
when the plane clipped trees and landed at the nearby Capital Golf Club course.
And in December last year, flamboyant medical entrepreneur Dr Geoffrey Edelsten
survived when his helicopter crashed on his first solo flight at the airport,
southeast of Melbourne.