text: Plane 'taxied down main street to Newman pub' 
   
   Updated 
   
   A Pilbara resident has spoken of his surprise at seeing a plane parked outside his local pub after its owner apparently taxied it down the main street so he could get a drink. 
   
   Officers were called to the Newman Hotel, also called the Purple Pub, about 2:00pm on Friday. 
   
   Witnesses told police the light aircraft, with its propeller running, had taxied from one end of the mining town to the other. 
   
   The aircraft did not have wings and was later towed from the pub. 
   
   Newman resident Beau Woolcock said he and his five-year-old daughter watched on as the plane was towed away. 
   
   "On the way back through [town] ... here's a plane parked outside the Purple Pub," he said. 
   
   "Even more special [was] seeing one of the local coppers poking his head in the door of the plane looking like he was asking for a licence. 
   
   "Even though no-one was in the plane at the time, I was like, what the hell?" 
   
   Police have charged the 37-year-old plane's owner with an act likely to endanger the life, health or safety of a person. 
   
   He also had his plane impounded and was due in the Newman Magistrates Court on November 18. 
   
   Newman Sergeant Mark Garner said the incident was being treated very seriously because there were children walking home from school at the time. 
   
   He said police had CCTV footage and had spoken to the plane's owner. 
   
   "When we arrived we found a Beechcraft two seater prop-driven plane parked in one of the bays," Sergeant Garner said. 
   
   "There was no-one there. The wings were off the plane. 
   
   "We made some inquires with some of the people in the pub and witnesses nearby and ended up speaking to a 37-year-old male." 
   
   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. 
   
   "The danger obviously taxiing a prop plane down Newman Drive, bearing in mind that kids have just come out of school," he said. 
   
   "It's a busy Friday afternoon. I know it's Newman, but we do get a fair bit of traffic." 
   
   Mr Woolcock said the plane had attracted a crowd. 
   
   "The plane was empty but they had the fire brigade and the jaws of life there and stuff one of the local guys rocked up with his tow truck and ended up putting it up on there," he said. 
   
   "There were people sitting around by the Caltex with their phones up taking snapshots... as they would be... you don't get to see that every day." 
   
   Witnesses have been asked to contact police. 
   
   Topics: police, newman-6753 
   
   First posted ||||| A Newman man is set to face a charge of endangering life, health or safety, later this month after allegedly taxiing an airplane with no wings and no steering wheel to the local pub. 
   
   The 37-year-old man was charged on Monday night after allegedly taking the propellor driven Beechcraft two-seater aircraft through Newman to the Purple Pub on Friday October 31 at 2.10pm, Sam Dinnison said. 
   
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   Link Police say the plane had its propeller running, its wings removed and was being steered by foot pedals. Photo: Newman Police 
   
   Police allege the man had purchased the aircraft from a man on the other side of town and was taking it home before deciding to stop in at the pub. 
   
   An examination of the plane revealed the fuel line, hanging from the side of the aircraft, was attatched to a jerry can in the cabin enabling the plane to run, and when the man stopped at the pub he left the ignition on. 
   
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   Link Despite having no wings or a steering wheel, this plane was taxied at a Newman pub 
   
   The man does not hold a pilot's license, and roads were busy with other vehicles and pedestrians at the time. 
   
   He will appear in Newman Magistrates Court, facing the charge of endangering life, health or safety, on November 18.
target: – Buying a plane must be thirsty work: Police in Newman, Western Australia, say a man who had just purchased a two-seater Beechcraft decided to drive it home and stop for a beer at a pub on the main street on the way. A resident says he was astounded to see the plane, which had no wings or steering wheel, parked outside the Purple Pub. Even more special was "seeing one of the local coppers poking his head in the door of the plane looking like he was asking for a license," he tells ABC Radio. "Even though no one was in the plane at the time, I was like, what the hell?" After some initial puzzlement over what, if anything, the driver should be charged with, police settled on a charge of "endangering life, health, or safety," reports WAToday. A police spokesman says the incident is being taken very seriously because there were children walking home from school at the time that the man—who doesn't have a pilot's license—was taxiing through the town, using the plane's foot pedals to steer. He passed a breath test at the scene, but police decided to impound the plane.