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.

Ditched means landing in water!

:rolleyes:

Or more accurately, glide from the sky to the ground in a controlled manner.

Yet another journalist who thinks he knows the 'lingo'.

Good news that both guys survived, though. :)

Here's a photo


http://i.thisis.co.uk/275565/article...405-vlarge.jpg

Yep, they're swines for simultaneous engine failures, those 152s! :rolleyes:

Thirty grand for a 152... Wow!

£12k spent refurbishing a 152 worth £18k does not a £30k 152 make. More like an £19k 152.
Anyway, you have to feel for the training organisation. Even if their insurance covers all the expenses, there's bound to be some economic problem as a result of this i.e having to lease a plane while a replacement is sought, etc etc. I hope they survive this as so many seem to be going under these days.

Fleet flyer
 

Your maths is typical of the aircraft market at the moment in that you are fooled into thinking that a C152 is worth lets say £19K.

It that is maybe all you want to pay and for that all you will get is a very worn out old dog (unless you are lucky enough to find a forced sale)

It terms of the reliability you need for a commecial operation you will need to invest in the overhaul & maintenance of aircraft so it is quite likely that to the owner of this club the aircraft is worth £30 -35K in terms of outlay and expected return and is insured as such.

So the reason that the market thinks that you should pay £12-19K for a C152 is because all the good aircraft are not for sale.

In another rare occurance AandC and I are in agreement. The aircraft is one of my club aircraft and I have the accounts sat on my desk (real club owned by us the members). A lot of money was spent on this aircraft to make it virtually factory new.

I am interested to understand what the failure was though as looking at the picture the engine was still deliver some power.

My money would be on Carb ice, one of my C152's ended up in a field and after a lot of inspection we could find nothing wrong.

However my aircraft was more fortunate and was undammaged.

I dont think Fleet Flyer and A and C are actually all that far apart.

On the one hand the aircraft is clearly worth that much to Bose and doubtless was in superb condition. On the other hand if it ever had come on the market it is very unlikely the owners would have recouped their investment (although in this case I am not quite so sure as the sums involved are pretty small). In general you tend to get only a fraction back of the money you spend on aircraft, and houses, cars and similiar chattels are no different - of course, as always there are exceptions.

it's a moot point. the aircraft is owned by the club and the club will sweat the asset to it's max before probably doing the same again. The punter will pay to fly a nice aircraft and the C152 is a fairly benign fun to fly(for the average spam can renter) aircraft.

I would be most surprised if that aircraft is not back in the air. It's not the first time we have had one upside down...........