Light a/c Forced Landing nr Salisbury

[zonoma]

Overheard on 121.5 a light a/c in a situation which required a forced landing in a field somewhere near Salisbury, although the area a bit sketchy. It required assistance from a Britannia relaying to the London cell at West Drayton, who also provided knowledge and assistance for the landing to help the guy get the a/c fully set up. Anyone know what happenned??
All I know is that the landing went as well as probably could be expected, the a/c took damage caused partially by barbed wire, but the pilot said he was ok.
May I also take this opportunity to say congratulations to the Britannia pilot, who probably reassured the light greatly, keeping things as calm as possible, and went through many things to help prepare for the ditch. His professionalism during the situation should certainly be commended, a very well done from me certainly, and hopefully a pint or several in the future from many more.

[McC]

Glad it turned uot turned out okay. Just to correct you, it ended up a joint effort. I was the skipper of the AMM860C and I chipped in with the best advice I could think of. When I went out of range the Brit crew took over. I have to say I was rather alarmed at the outset as this seemed to have the potential to end in a tragedy fairly quickly.

I'd love to hear from the lad in the C150!


Peter McCambridge

[Squadgy]

Well done to all.

We got some of the R/T on 122.7 from the Brittania, even though we later found out he was down near Cardiff. As it wasn't immediately apparent which unit the Brittania was calling on 122.7 (shared by three airfields in uK) it took a couple of mins to determine our 'field wasn't affected.
My guess was the Brittania guy was updating Bodmin judging by the location of the incident.

Glad to hear it all ended ok.

Cheers

[zonoma]

I'm not going to amend my original post but add here a big well done to you too McC, we only caught the Britannia part and knew the situation was nearly over by that time. Do you know what happenned to cause the forced landing?
Hope the guy in the C150 is ok beside a little trauma, toward the last couple of transmissions even the Britannia pilot sounded slightly nervous. Hands together for you all though for managing to remain focused and basically be a 'checklist' for the C150.

[Flyin'Dutch']

Hopefully it all went well and it is great to see both ends of the aviation spectrum working together.

Take it he was trying to raise Compton Abbas as that is the unit using 122.7 in that neck of the woods.

The others (IIRC) are Sywell (Northampton) and Barton (nr Manchester).

FD

[Keef]

Comments I heard were that someone observing from above and seeing the pilot go around the first time, said "He's bottled out". Not guaranteed to inspire confidence.

Second time, apparently, he was reciting a list of "don't forget to..." as the bloke was on short final.

Good he was there, not sure about the RT.

[McC]

Apparently he got airborne from Comton Abbas and then got caught in poor weather. I heard his initial Mayday call that he was circling at 100ft and unsure of his position. West Drayton couldn't see him at that height. It was the controller who eventually suggested a forced landing, and in my opinion was spot on. It was only 15-30 mins from sunset. The Britannia pilot was on 122.7 calling Compton to update them. This could all have ended in tears. Glad it worked out.

[QDMQDMQDM]

Apparently he got airborne from Comton Abbas and then got caught in poor weather. I heard his initial Mayday call that he was circling at 100ft and unsure of his position. West Drayton couldn't see him at that height. It was the controller who eventually suggested a forced landing

I'm not sure precautionary landings are still taught in the ppl syllabus. They can be a jolly good idea, though. Pre-war, they were standard fare when the weather closed in. Land, have a cup of tea with the local vicar, send a telegram updating your people of your whereabouts, and continue your journey when the weather improved, having first taken the local farmer for a flip in gratitude for the use of his field. Them were the days.

QDM

[PA-28-180]

For the record...precautionary/forced landings ARE still part of the PPL syllabus-and the FAA practical. Of course, so is meterology and go/no go decision making! ;)

[FlyingForFun]

Not sure if precautionary landings are part of the UK syllabus - I was taught them by my instructor, but not examined on them. If they're not, they should be.

The weather over the past couple of weeks has been, well, variable to say the least. Very easy to see how a pilot could get caught out. Of course, with hindsight it's easy to say he shouldn't have gone, but hindsight is wonderful isn't it. Glad everyone's ok, though. And congrats to everyone involved - from the sound of it, it was an extremely professional response by everyone involved.

FFF
-----------------

[expedite_climb]

Yes Forced Landings with power definately in the syllabus.

[Pruner]

Just a note to give a big thank you to everyone that was involved in helping our Club member back to safety on Saturday.

The a/c was recovered, with a few minor scratches to paintwork and a few cow pat splashes, on sunday morning - it was flown back to Compton without a problem.

Our club member also wishes to thank everyone for their help,
and i think is enrolling for an IMC course along with a lot of our other members!


Compton Abbas Ops

[Fly Stimulator]

AAIB report (http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/bulletin/feb03/gbfog.htm) now online.

[sennadog]

All's well that ends well. Fly - betcha you wouldn't even have reached the wire at the end of the field in your batwing!:p

[Fly Stimulator]

sennadog,

On the other hand, with no AI or turn co-ordinator, I probably wouldn't have survived the inadvertant IMC in the first place, so the short landing capability could have been somewhat academic!

You still on for the jaunt to France by the way?