Shoreham Mayday - what actually happened
After speaking to the two pilots involved in the mayday they are lucky to be alive!
The aircraft (a Pa28) arrived Shoreham from the Channel Islands, that flight being uneventful, it was on departure from Shoreham back to the aircrafts 'home base' when the 'fun & games' started.
The aircraft was climbing out from Shoreham's runway 07 when one of the pilots observed a spark and then flames coming from the engine. A mayday call was then made by the non flying pilot and the pilots were told by ATC that any runway was available. Despite the aircraft cabin filling with thick acrid smoke they elected for runway 07 and flew a tight circuit within the aerodrome confines. Despite near zero visiblity the pilot in command executed a perfect landing and even managed to taxi the aircraft away from the runway before abandoning it.
On inspection of the aircraft 'after it had cooled down' it appeared that one of the cylinder heads had cracked.