Morane MS.315 lands on beach at Sidmouth...

[treadigraph]

Great forced landing after an engine failure! Hope it was recovered before the tide came in...

https://youtu.be/4AbslcKVHho

[brokenlink]

T. Saw a report earlier that it was towed clear and that dismantling had begun to get it off the beach.

[n5296s]

Light aircraft makes emergency landing on Devon beach - BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-devon-44023712/light-aircraft-makes-emergency-landing-on-devon-beach)

Pretty impressive altitude management there (no doubt accompanied by a lot of luck).

[LowNSlow]

Good work that man!
Loved the Gruadian line The first world war-era plane narrowly missed people on the stony beach. First World War era - err Morane MS 315 first flight 1932........

[Jan Olieslagers]

Impressive! Managed to touch down as early as ever possible AND to slow down gradually - in that very fine sand - so he didn't flip over. Of course it's a slow machine anyway, and some luck may perhaps have been involved too, but still and above all great airmanship! A lucky thing none got injured, though, not even a dog, of which several were around.

[The Fat Controller]

Jan, I think you'll find he missed the sand completely and landed on shingle (stones) which was pretty dry.

[Jan Olieslagers]

Ah, euhh, hm. well, err.... Never saw a shingle beach in the life of me, lack of experience, so sorry. The stone nature does explain the very bumpy touchdown, I wondered about that. Still, I can only hope my first for-real emergency landing will be as great as this one! Out of curiosity: how does one choose between sand and shingle/stone, in the given situation? Myself would prefer the sand, but only in avoidance of the unknown.

[treadigraph]

I think there were people on the sand, it's far preferable for walking along.

[India Four Two]

Jan,

Unlike the Belgian coast, there are lots of shingle beaches around the south coast of England. Extremely uncomfortable and exhausting to walk on and if the tide is low and sand is visible, that is the place to walk.

Unfortunately, that meant the Morane pilot had to choose between ditching and the shingle. I am amazed that he successfully landed without nosing over. A very good job that he attempted a three-point, tail-low landing.

[Pace]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/plane-emergency-landing-beach-sidmouth-devon-bank-holiday-weekend-video-engine-fails-a8339821.html

firstly very pleased that this beach landing turned out fine for all but wonder what the headlines would be if a child had been killed in the Rollout ?

A few yards to the right is the sea and landing parralel to the shore maybe 150 meters out would have dramatically reduced risk to a people busy beach

interested what other pilots think and would have done ?

Point 2 I hate the way media use the term hero
Hero is someone who risks their own wellbeing for the sake of another

[Sam Rutherford]

It's a good question.

We're wondering the same for our beach event next month. There is a total prohibition on being even close to the beach except for the landing strip - but if someone has a donkey-stop are they going to plonk in the sea or try and glide to any part of the long, flat (but busy) hard sand of the beach?

My suspicion is that, regardless of what anyone writes here, most/all would head for dry land and justify it with "I'll aim between the people, it'll be fine".

There have been a number of beach forced landings over the years, not seen any occasions where the pilot chose for the water.

[TheOddOne]

Being from a coastal location, we used to recommend a beach landing rather than the surf. However, sadly, a C150 with reported engine failure killed 2 people on a beach in Portugal last year. Instructor and student on board. They nearly got lynched by an angry mob.
In the case of our local beach, there are often more people in the water than on the sand - it's very popular with a number of surfing schools.
Major re-think required.

Sometimes the forced landing area chooses you, rather than you choosing it...

TOO

[Genghis the Engineer]

I've done several beach landings, one precautionary. In my experience it's very easy to see who is there and whether you have a clear area in which to land.

It seems likely to me that the pilot of that aeroplane could see a straight line down the beach with nobody in it and selected that.

Of course, only the pilot himself knows what he or she would have done had that clear bit of beach not been available. Certainly I hope and believe I'd put it in the water, risking my life to protect other people's, but it would be arrogance in the extreme to say with certainty that that's what I'd actually do in such an emergency.

G

[hoodie]

It wouldn't have been just his life he was risking - he had a passenger. Ditching would have risked her life, too.

So not straightforward, but then that is reality (rather than the internet, or the Daily Mail).

[Jan Olieslagers]

I have practiced power-out landings in a (known good) field but I never practiced ditching. When ditching, I would be quite concerned about flipping over, risking drowning. As said, to myself AND to any passenger. So I would much prefer terra firma, yes.

[Chris Martyr]

Hero pilot or selfish pilot ?
Actually , I don't think he falls into either category . But he certainly falls into the category of a guy whose decision making fell in extremely well with the resources that he had available at the time.
Had the beach been full of people , then I'm sure that his actions would probably have been different.
But for that particular aeroplane on that particular day at that particular time , he got it spot-on in my books !
And I applaud him.

[Alsacienne]

Off topic perhaps, so please pardon me in advance, but how did the plane get removed from the beach ... or will it become a permanent memorial like the DC3 in Iceland?

[booke23]

Off topic perhaps, so please pardon me in advance, but how did the plane get removed from the beach ... or will it become a permanent memorial like the DC3 in Iceland?

It was dismantled the next day (or at least the wings were detached) and removed from the beach.

[Alsacienne]

Thanks! Must have been a challenge to get it off the pebbles ... at least it was above the tide line!

[m.Berger]

Tricky aircraft, tricky situation, tricky landing, carried out with aplomb.
As a contributor to the Daily Mail opined, he is an attempted murderer and should be charged as such.
I have my own opinion on which of the two would be the greater loss to the planet.
Neither hero nor selfish but skilful and fortunate. Good enough for me.

[robin]

I agree - not a hero nor selfish but very fortunate. I look forward to the report though I believe that will be based on the pilot's account.

[blueandwhite]

It's a good question.

We're wondering the same for our beach event next month. There is a total prohibition on being even close to the beach except for the landing strip - but if someone has a donkey-stop are they going to plonk in the sea or try and glide to any part of the long, flat (but busy) hard sand of the beach?

My suspicion is that, regardless of what anyone writes here, most/all would head for dry land and justify it with "I'll aim between the people, it'll be fine".

There have been a number of beach forced landings over the years, not seen any occasions where the pilot chose for the water.

As I recall there was the Turb last year.

I know Zac, while I can't be sure but I suspect he would not have put it on the beach if he had seen someone in the way.

[rmac2]

Yes Zac pulled it off well

[rog747]

I just seen this and I only live up the road!

amazing - very fortunate and he made his choices - and all was well -- he only had 4 miles to run to Branscombe airfield (just above and before Beer head)
he lost power then engine cut in Lyme bay

he was coming back from Bodmin around 75 miles - hope his fuel load was OK