Pilot lands plane in paddock near Dean

A RECREATIONAL pilot walked away uninjured after being forced to land his aircraft in a paddock in Mollongghip, near Dean, yesterday afternoon.The man, believed to be aged in his 50s, told the property owners he was piloting the single engine light plane from Kyneton to Colac when an oil leak forced him to make the emergency landing.The property owner's son, Nick Dimond, said he saw it unfold as he walked out of his house about 4pm."I looked up and there was this plane flying low and I couldn't hear any noise," he said."He was just trying to find a good spot to land. We spoke to the bloke after it happened and he was trying to get the right wind direction, he told me he had an oil leak and he was trying to land. "After he had landed he was fine, he was walking around talking on his phone by the time we got there."We didn't really know what we were thinking but I was glad to see him standing up when we got there."Mr Dimond said the man phoned a friend in Kyneton who came to collect him but the plane remained in their paddock last night, with the owner planning to return today to take it home."I'm not exactly sure what happened, he just said he had an oil leak and he said it was a fairly routine landing," he said."It's not every day you see something like that happen, it's quite unique actually."