Five minutes after take off, aircraft crash-lands near school in Australia

A

Piper PA-28 aircraft

, carrying a 37-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, took off from

Bankstown Airport

in Sydney's southwest at approximately 2.20 pm on Thursday. However, just five minutes into the training flight, the plane encountered

engine failure

and was forced to make an

emergency landing

near sporting fields at Bossley Park,

Canberra Times

reported.

The pilot successfully maneuvered the aircraft into nearby trees, which helped soften the impact of the crash. Despite the plane carrying up to 340 litres of fuel, both occupants sustained only

minor injuries

and declined further medical treatment from paramedics at the scene.
The crash site was located adjacent to Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School, and the incident occurred shortly before students were set to head home for the day. Principal Beverly Coffey was informed of the crash by parents arriving to pick up their children. Teachers and staff quickly donned high-visibility clothing to manage the situation and comfort the "some pretty upset kids," but the school day concluded without further disruption. One parent praised the pilot's actions, saying, "I honestly think that the pilot saved a bigger accident than what's actually happened."
According to data from aviation tracking site FlightAware, the plane had reached an altitude of about 300m at 144km/h before crash-landing approximately two minutes later. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation into the incident.
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