Leicester incident.
Friday, May 20, 2011, 09:301 comment Share
Flying instructor and pupil unhurt after plane crash in Leicestershire
< Previous 1 2 Next >
By Tom Mack And Dan Martin
A flying instructor and his pupil had a lucky escape after their plane crash-landed in a field.
The Cessna 152 was forced to the ground after suffering engine trouble above Kilby, in South Leicestershire, at about 3pm yesterday.
It had taken off from Leicester Airport, at Stoughton, half an hour earlier and a witness described it circling around near the village before the engines spluttered out and it ditched.
It is understood that as it came in to land the plane flipped forwards onto its nose and landed on its roof.
Police, fire engines, paramedics and the air ambulance all rushed to the scene and found the 26-year-old instructor and his 60-year-old female pupil with minor injuries but able to walk away from the wreck.
Leicester Airport spokesman Mac Clarke said: "It appears there was a problem with the engine and the pilot in command decided to put it down in a field.
"Unfortunately that field was a ridge and furrow field and as the plane had just about come to a stop it caught one of the bumps and flipped over.
"Fortunately the pilot and the student were OK.
"The plane had just been refurbished so this has cost us a lot of money. It's worth about £30,000."
A local farmer, who rents the field the plane landed in, saw it fall from the sky.
He said: "I could tell it was having some kind of trouble with its engine.
"Then I spotted it and it was circling around quite low. I thought it was one of those ones taking photographs of the farm to try to sell to me.
"Then it went down behind the spinney and just never came up again.
"I assumed it had landed ok. I didn't hear any kind of crash."
He said the field would not have made a good emergency landing strip.
He said: "It sounds like the plane came in across the ridges so it's not surprising it didn't go well."
Police blocked off part of the A511 while the pair from the plane were treated.
Officers said the plane had suffered engine problems during a flight from Leicester Airport, near Stoughton.
Pc Alex Gray, of Wigston police, said: "The 26-year-old pilot tried to land the aircraft in a field but it was not as flat as he thought. It caught on a ridge and flipped over.
"He suffered only slight injuries. His 60-year-old passenger also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
"Both of them had walked clear from the aircraft when we arrived."
The incident has been reported to the Department of Transport's Accident Investigation Branch.