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Two pilots had an almost miraculous escape from injury when the Bell JetRanger helicopter they were in plunged from the sky near the end of the runway at Kununurra airport.
The accident happened at about 8.30am on Sunday morning.
The pilot was former Alligator Airways chief pilot Peter Wieland and his passenger was current Alligator chief pilot Bret Montgomery.
Peter said on Monday that he had been flying at about 400 feet when he experienced engine failure.
He managed to 'auto rotate' the aircraft, swerving it to narrowly miss a tree before coming down in long grass midway between the end of the airport runway and the Ord River.
The rear rotor assembly was thrown clear of the wreckage and the chopper came to rest on its side.
Peter and Bret quickly scrambled from the wreckage and battled their way through the long grass back to the airport.
Remarkably they suffered only minor scratches.
Peter said the emergency landing was what pilots were trained to do and it had not put him off flying helicopters.
"I'm ready to go again," he said.
He also paid tribute to how well the JetRanger had held together.
Peter also praised Bret for remaining calm as the pair braced themselves for impact.
The flight was just a prelude to Peter's engagement to use the helicopter for geological survey work.
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