Pilot pulled from front-yard wreckage

PERTH - A former United States Navy pilot cheated death when he was pulled alive from the wreckage of his stunt plane which crashed into the front yard of a home in Perth.

The pilot, Charles "Chuck" McElwee, was flying his Robin 2160 Aerosport leisure aircraft, which had been fitted with a newly rebuilt engine, when he clipped a power cable and crashed into the front lawn of a home in South Lake.

Stan Miller, who had been sitting in the lounge room of his rented home, said yesterday he heard a loud bang before finding the plane upside down in his front yard on Saturday.

"There was a hell of a bang and the power went out so I looked outside and was very surprised by what I saw. It shook me up seeing the plane there but my first thought was to try to get the pilot out but I was not even sure at that stage whether he was alive or dead," Miller said.

He went outside and realised the pilot was alive and helped haul him to safety.

"He was very shaken up. I had to help him out and he came out from the cockpit upside down and seemed very disoriented," Miller said.

"He did not know where he was. He had blood oozing out of his face so I got a wet towel and a blanket and just did the best I could even though I felt I was running around like a zombie.

"He did not talk very much to me - I think because he seemed to be in shock - but he was then taken away to the hospital by ambulance and I have heard he is now okay so he is really lucky."

Miller said that while he was busy rescuing the pilot, another neighbour acted quickly to ensure the plane wreck did not explode.

"My neighbour knew more about planes so he tried to turn the fuel off and kept everybody back just in case it exploded but we later found out there was no fuel left in it."

Police were quick to respond in blocking off the street, which lies only a few kilometres from Jandakot Airport, where the plane was due to land.

- AAP