As the plane skidded across the turf of the trotting track at Bankstown Paceway, it hit overhead lights and sheared off a wing before slamming into a fence and the back of a parked black Mazda whose owner was in a line dancing class inside the club.
Paceway Operations Manager Steve Thurlow was first on the scene after seeing the tail of the plane sticking out.
“I got there just as the pilot was getting out and when I asked how he was, he said he was ok,” Mr Thurlow said.
“Then very shakily he said, ‘I thought I was going to die and I just got married and I’ve got a baby on the way’.
“When I asked what happened, he said he just lost power.”
With police and emergency services quickly arriving on the scene, five people were evacuated from the carpark as firefighters sealed off the area and contained a minor fuel leak.
The pilot was treated for shock but was otherwise uninjured.
Mr Thurlow said the plane was dismantled and taken away on Sunday.
Bankstown Paceway General Manager Tom Swiderski said thankfully everyone was okay.
“It could have been so much worse,” he said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
