A 100-kilogram propeller that fell off a Regional Express (REX) plane over south-western Sydney last week has been winched out of bushland, as investigators attempt to piece together what went wrong.
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NSW Police and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) officials on Wednesday morning used a PolAir helicopter to lift the propeller from bushland in the Georges River National Park, where it came to rest after detaching from the plane on Friday.
The propeller crashed to the ground about 100 metres from a suburban street but was found only on Tuesday, leaving residents in the area shocked at the close call.
An ATSB spokesman said the propeller was winched to the nearby Bill Delauney Reserve where it was loaded onto a vehicle and taken to a NSW Police facility in Bankstown.
ATSB investigators would examine the propeller to determine what went wrong on board flight ZL-768 from Albury to Sydney, he said.
An initial report is expected within a month, but the investigation could take up to a year to complete, he said.
The 34-seat plane, carrying 16 passengers and three crew members, was about 19 kilometres from Sydney Airport when its right-hand propeller flew off, narrowly avoiding hitting the wing and tail.
The two pilots were forced to declare a PAN, which is one step down from a full-scale Mayday, before landing safely at the airport. No one was injured.
An eagle-eyed crew member on the PolAir helicopter on Tuesday spotted the propeller lying in bushland east of The River Road in Revesby.
Ken Stasionis, who lives in nearby Austin Boulevard, said he was shocked to hear that the propeller had fallen so close to a residential area.
"We're extremely lucky it didn't fall onto a house," he said.
