View Full Version : Small plane crash-lands on Hoylake beach
nolberto
15th Sep 2009, 18:54
A SMALL plane has crash-landed on Hoylake beach.
The one-man plane came down nose-first earlier this evening.
The pilot is thought to have escaped serious injury.
A spokesman for Hoylake Lifeboat Station said, "Emergency services are on the scene.
"It's a bit bigger than a microlight and came down nose-first.
"It is now being towed by our tractor back to the lifeboat station.
Liverpool Echo 16/09/09
Jofm5
15th Sep 2009, 23:37
BREAKING NEWS: Drama as light aircraft nosedives at Hoylake beach (From Wirral Globe) (http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/4630598.BREAKING_NEWS__Drama_as_light_aircraft_nosedives_at_ Hoylake_beach/)
The title is a bit over dramatised, the pilot planned to land on the beach and the nosewheel dug in and snapped off.
Why he would want to land on a beach I dont know... Seems also the pilot was under the impression he was allowed to but the coastgauard think otherwise.
sandbagsteve
16th Sep 2009, 21:15
That looks suspiciously like the same type that I'm learning in... an Ikarus C42... Hope he's OK.
Oldpilot55
16th Sep 2009, 21:24
I suspect he could not find a tree to land on...there not being many trees on a beech.
Not really a stupid idea to set her down on a beach (unless it was busy with people), I'm pretty sure there are a few airports out there that are based on a beach... I guess it all depends where you land, at the waters edge or further in.
Airport data shows that the a/c callsign is a C42.
magpienja
16th Sep 2009, 21:36
The beach at Hoylake at low water is massive and normally very few people about.
Nick.
You have to laugh at the media and their eyewitnesses! What ridiculous statements; but that's the norm. The coastguard statement demonstrates yet more incompetence, from an organisation which should know better. It is not as if beach landings are something new.
As can be clearly seen from the photo in the newspaper, the aircraft was indeed an Ikarus C42, and despite what the Hoylake spokesperson is quoted as saying, it is a 'microlight' and a two-seat one at that!
Beaches, especially in the North-West, are in regular use by light aircraft; see photos here (http://www.edendale.co.uk/ANW/KEP.1.html) and here (http://www.edendale.co.uk/ANW/MID.1.html). Makes for a good day out.
Just unfortunate that in this instance, the pilot seems to have hit a soft spot, if the newspaper report is true. All the more reason to know your beach's characteristics. I have not been to the Hoylake beach, but the ones around Morecambe Bay are good and hard as concrete! If you want to see beach activity, weekend of Sept 26/27, visit the Southport Air Show (http://www.visitsouthport.com/airshow/home). Where you will see (weather permitting!) light vintage aircraft and microlights on display.