Man charged by police after parking light plane at pub in Australia

MELBOURNE: An Australian man has been charged by police after driving a light plane down the street and parking it at a pub so he could get a drink.

Residents of Newman, Western Australia, were surprised to see a plane parked outside the Purple Pub after its owner apparently taxied it down the main street so he could get a drink.

Police have charged the 37-year-old plane's owner with an act likely to endanger the life, health or safety of a person, 'abc.net.au' reported.

"When we arrived we found a Beechcraft two seater prop-driven plane parked in one of the bays. There was no-one there. The wings were off the plane," said Newman police Sergeant Mark Garner.

The incident was being treated very seriously because there were children walking home from school at the time, he said.

He said police had CCTV footage and had spoken to the plane's owner.

He said the fact that the plane did not have a steering wheel made the situation very dangerous, and the propeller could also have caused significant damage.