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Pilot crash lands into sewage pond
Mon, 27 Oct 2008 6:44p.m.
A trainee pilot created a stink after crashing his plane off the runway at Thames Airport this morning, landing in a sewage pond.
The man was flying solo and scrambled from the cockpit after the splash landing. The only injury he suffered was to his pride and his shoes.
"He got out by himself and swam a short distance to shore," Constable Steve Malloy says. "He was checked by the ambulance crew and was fine."
The pilot was a trainee with CTC Aviation, but did not want to talk about the incident.
CTC's chief executive John Jones says the pilot heard his engine cough during the botched landing, but it is too early to say what caused it.
Engineers have not decided if the plane can be repaired, but it is likely to have been badly damaged by the highly acidic effluent.
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