Aviation incident, Whitsunday Island
QPS Media on Jan 28, 2016 @ 7:13pm
A 25-year-old woman has been airlifted to Mackay Hospital with neck injuries following the heavy landing of a sea plane off Whitsunday Island.
Preliminary investigations suggest around 3.30pm, a sea plane was conducting a routine landing into Chance Bay when it struck rough water.
The plane bounced before landing heavily, coming to a stop on the beach and colliding with some vegetation.
There were seven women and four men on board the plane as passengers – all aged in their twenties and thirties.
Apart from the woman airlifted to Mackay, no one else on board was injured and they have now returned to Hamilton Island.
The Whitsunday Water Police attended the scene to render assistance.
The plane poses no navigational or environmental hazard and it is expected to be retrieved tomorrow.
At this stage, it appears likely that no further investigation by the Queensland Police Service will be necessary