Australian pilot commended for ocean landing

Nov 19, 2009, 8:14 GMT

   Sydney - An Australian pilot was hailed a hero Thursday after he ditched his Westwind executive jet in the Pacific Ocean after bad weather prevented him from landing at minuscule Norfolk Island off the Australia's east coast.

   Pel-Air Aviation's Dominic James was flying a woman from Samoa to Melbourne for medical treatment and was to land on tiny Norfolk Island to refuel.

   After aborting several attempts at landing, he was running low on fuel and decided to ditch his craft 2 kilometres from the coast.

   James and the five people on board crawled out onto the wing before the Israeli Aircraft Industries jet sank. They were in the water for 90 minutes before being picked up by a fishing boat.

   John Sharp, the Pel-Air chairman, told national broadcaster ABC that James beat the odds.

   'This was a very dark night, he was landing in sea, there was a swell of between 1 and 1.5 metres and the aircraft was moving quickly,' he said. 'The slightest imperfection in the flying skills of the pilot could cause that aircraft to tumble head over tail and cause the aircraft to break up.'

   The hunky pilot is a former nominee for bachelor of the year in an Australian women's magazine.

   Norfolk Island airport manager Glenn Robinson said those on board were lucky to be alive after Wednesday's incident.

   'They were extremely lucky and believe me, they all know it,' he said. 'Full credit to the pilot. It was just an amazing effort by him.'