A plane has crashed on the first public day of the Australian International Airshow. Photo: ABC / Paul Crock
A witness to a crash at an Australian airshow says the entire crowd was stunned into silence after seeing a plane hit the ground in what appeared to be an uncontrolled nosedive.
The ABC is reporting the pilot and sole occupant has been seriously injured in the crash at the Avalon International Airshow near Melbourne on Friday afternoon.
It reports emergency services were called after a plane lost control while conducting a demonstration and crashed into the tarmac.
BREAKING: Grave fears are held for a pilot at the Avalon Airshow, after a crash during a stunt gone wrong. https://t.co/5zYfOfGqUb @bethan_yeoman #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/P30CSsmaxy
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) March 28, 2025
RNZ broadcaster Phil O'Brien is among the crowd at the airshow and said the crash was "beyond horrible" and he can't believe anyone could survive the impact.
"To be honest, it was just nose first. Full speed into the ground."
He said the biplanes were doing loops and tricks which included stalling and plummeting towards the ground before pulling up at the last second.
"And I watched him come down and he started to pull back and then suddenly he got into what looked like an uncontrollable spin.
"And it just went nose first ... right on the edge of the runway."
O'Brien said there were no flames but he saw an explosion of dust and felt the shock of the impact through the ground.
"But the weirdest thing was this huge crowd at the airport just went completely silent, just stopped. There wasn't a sound for about 10 seconds when everyone realised what had happened."
The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft, a man aged in his 50s, was flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne with critical injuries, an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson told the ABC.
