Fright Attendant

Here's The Lowdown - You're Too Low Down

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Okay, gentle readers, you can breathe easy. This is not a real plane crash. It's simply an example of good old Outback gallows humour. This mock "accident" is a well-known sight at the Ettamogah Pub, on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne.


Ground control to Major Tom - you're grounded. Literally and metaphorically, that is. Looks like this plane needs a nose job. Hmmmm, let's take a closer look ....


He must have been coming in on a wing and a prayer - and obviously neither the wing nor the prayer was strong enough.


Here's what the scene in the control tower looks like. The sign down the bottom that is partially obscured by the foliage says: "Air safety is our concern - Crash somewhere else."

And if you're wondering about "Coolanhotta Air Control", it's a play on the Australian habit of running words into each other, so "Coolanhotta" is actually "cool and hotter". It's also a pun on the name of the Gold Coast airport, which is called Coolangatta.

Mate, if ya have to crash, there's no better place in the entire Outback to crash than next to a pub.

For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch Friday.