Police were called down to the Purple Pub in Newman, Western Australia, a small mining town of about 4,000. When they pulled up, they saw a rather strange sight: a small plane (a two-seat Beechcraft, to be precise) was parked in the lot, next to the cars of the other patrons. Its owner was inside, having a drink. It seems he had taxied his plane down the main thoroughfare of Newman, making his way across the whole town, before reaching the pub.
In all fairness, it is a little plane.
Because sometimes, you just really, really need a drink, right?
The staff of the Newman Hotel saw about 200 locals gather around as the man, a well-known Newman local, pulled the plane into the parking lot (like you do) and stroll into the Purple Pub. They referred to him as a “legend.”
The police, while they may have been just as amazed, were not quite as celebratory. Besides the fact that taxiing a plane down a main street is kind of dangerous anyway, they also cited the timing of the event. “”The danger is obviously taxiing a prop plane down Newman Drive, bearing in mind that kids have just come out of school,” Sergeant Mark Garner of the Newman police told ABC. “It’s a busy Friday afternoon. I know it’s Newman but we do get a fair bit of traffic.”
Naturally, Twitter got involved.
Things get even weirder when you consider that the plane managed to fit on streets due to the fact that it has no wings. It seems like its owner was really into converting the two-seater plane into an Earthbound vehicle. However, the plane also lacked a steering wheel, meaning that controlling it on land would be difficult, and potentially dangerous. The plane’s propellers were also intact, which could have also caused damage or injury.
The Esperance Police, also from Western Australia, saw the inherent entertainment value in this. We hope they made good on their offer.
The plane’s owner was not identified except for that he is a 37-year-old male. According to Sgt. Garner, the pilot–if you can call him that–passed a breath test, but may still have to deal with the legal repercussions of driving a plane through a town. “”I need to look at what the appropriate offence would be as it’s a bit of an unusual one,” Sgt. Garner said.
In the future, might we recommend just keeping a six-pack at home for when your only vehicle is a wingless plane?
