When A Small Plane Landed on a Bakam Beach
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On this Saturday of 25th July 2009, cellphones in Miri lit up with a flood of messages circulating of rumors that a light plane had ditched into the sea off the coast of Miri around noon. The confusion in the rumor was spread around Miri like wildfire, but eventually it was understood that two men, who declined identify themselves to news reporters, had in fact landed their small two-seater private plane safely on the beach near here after their small aircraft ran out of fuel. Their destination had been Miri Airport. While their aircraft wasn't damaged from the landing, the takeoff however, may have seen the plane take some saltwater damage. No one was hurt in the incident.
Photos can be found in the newspaper, which I've taken a snapshot of. For those who don't read chinese (taken from a chinese newspaper publication), the story is about the same, but with the following information:
The pilot was a 60+ year old man who had flown in from Kuching to Miri. Upon discovering that the fuel wasn't enough to make it as a result of a fuel leak, he informed Miri Airport of his situation and ending up making an emergency landing near the Bakam beach. The Police and Fire Department arrived to locate them and then help with the refueling and the clearing of the beach for takeoff. This article is from the web site miriresortcity dot com - this sentence is here to prevent blatant plagarism. During take off however, they made two attempts with the first one almost ending in disaster, when the plane nearly went into the sea. The second attempt took off successfully, landing at Miri Airport.
No information on the aircraft model except that it is of a German make.
The dramatic photos from a chinese newspaper clip showed the two takeoff attempts. The lower left picture shows an aborted takeoff run when the plane ran into seawater. The right-side pictures show the successful takeoff run the second attempt.
Source Newspaper clip from Sin Chew Daily
A place of interest, Tusan Beach is a beautiful beach area near Tusan about an hour's travel time from the city. Along the smooth sandy beach, coral reefs, a waterfall, several cliffsides and a defining feature; a large cliff with a arch eroded through it dubbed the "Drinking Horse".
'Commercial shipping' utilizing Miri as a port goes back to as early as when Miri was merely a fishing village. Being the site of the first discovery of oil in Borneo in 1910 quickened the business and pace and progress of Miri, establishing it an important and leading port for the majority of the 20th century in the region for oil and then timber industries.
Batu Niah Township is the final stop to Niah Caves.
The successful discovery of offshore oil in the 1970s triggered a fresh development boom in Miri; luxury hotels were built, more houses constructed and new shopping centers and industrial estates established. Miri ranked as the second most important commercial town in Sarawak after Sibu town. 