A student pilot has explained how he survived a 500m plummet when his plane crashed in New South Wales.
Elven and the instructor survived the crash.
After helping his seriously injured pilot get back to the airport and into a car, Elven drove himself an hour and a half to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
“I walked in the front door, I lost my shoes, I had blood everywhere and sticks everywhere,” he told Today from his hospital bed.
“I told them I had a plane crash and they almost sent me to the psych ward.”
He said the hospital arrival was hampered because he “couldn’t find a car park for ages”.
Elven said he decided to drive himself to a hospital near his house because he “couldn’t be bothered” ending up at a hospital far from his home.
He also gave some insight into how the crash unfolded, telling Today he couldn’t believe he survived.
“As soon as that prop (propeller) stops turning, and the plane goes dead silent and you’re watching those big trees get bigger and bigger really quickly,” ge saud,
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“All I kept thinking was, ‘Man, this is gonna hurt’.
“The last thing I remember is we hit the first tree, ripped the back of the plane and saw sunlight coming from all the wrong directions.
“I remember holding on and then waking up about 10-15 minutes later going, ‘Holy crap, we made it!'”
“What? What!” the Today hosts replied, gobsmacked.
The student pilot even filmed himself at the sight of the crash after he woke up because he said it would “make a good story.”
According to Elven the pilot had been “flying a long time” without any issues and said he would get back into a plane again as it was a “one in a million” accident.
“S— happens. But as bad as it could be, it couldn’t have gone any better.”
“We will have a go again and hopefully next time I crash even smoother.”
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