Plane crashes into Old Bar ferris wheel

Tragedy seems to have been averted following a light aircraft crashing into a ferris wheel at the Old Bar Beach Festival in northern NSW earlier today (Saturday 1st October).

The plane lodged in the frame of the carnival ride more than 10 metres off the ground.

Two people were rescued from the plane, although their extraction from the wreckage took nearly three hours, while a nine-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl who were on the ferris wheel at the time of the incident were trapped for more than an hour before being brought to the ground.

A spokesperson for the Rural Fire Services spokesman stated "all the people involved in that incident do appear to have been able to get away without any serious injury."

Local resident Gary Jones said his nine-year-old twin boys got off the ferris wheel just seconds before the plane hit.

Jones told AAP "it was a hell of a shock. My sons were on the ferris wheel ... they got off probably 60 seconds before (the plane hit)."

Emergency services used a crane to extract the wreckage of the Cheetah S200 from the ferris wheel.

Air Safety investigators will examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Held every October long weekend, the multi award winning Old Bar Beach Festival is a celebration of Australian beach culture.