Plane crash Leicester Pilot ok 13 November 2011

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Member for

17 years 9 months

Posts: 418

Taken from This Leicestershire site

Pilot walks away from crash

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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Leicester Mercury

A pilot had a lucky escape when his light aircraft plummeted to the ground.

The crash happened when his Piper Pacer plane lost power shortly after he took off from Leicester Airport, near Stoughton, on Sunday.

He came down about half a mile from the runway, in a field off Gartree Road, at about 1.25pm.

Leicester Airport spokesman Mac Clarke said the pilot suffered minor injuries. He said: "He was very lucky. The plane is a write-off.

"When it came down it hit a hedge. The undercarriage was ripped off and the wing was damaged.

"The pilot managed to extricate himself from the plane and he walked across the field to the road nearby, where he got himself a lift back to the airport.

"He was checked out by paramedics and, thankfully, he was fine, although he was quite shaken up.

"He had been doing circuits around the airfield so he was not far away and then his plane lost power.

"He had been flying for about 10 minutes."

Mr Clarke said the cause of the loss of power was under investigation.

He said the plane was privately owned and did not belong to Leicester Aero Club, which is based at the airport.

Nine fire engines were scrambled to the crash site because of fears that aviation fuel could have caught light.

A Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "When we arrived the pilot was out of the plane.

"Some of the aviation fuel had evaporated but there was still some left in a tank.

"We made the situation safe and left things in the hands of the airport's own firefighters.

"There was a substantial amount of damage to the aircraft, which suggests the crash could have been a lot more serious for the pilot."

An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We received an emergency call at 1.28pm on Sunday which reported an aircraft had crashed.

"Highly skilled clinicians in two fast-response vehicles and a double crewed ambulance attended the scene.

"The police and fire service were also in attendance.

"We did not transport anyone to hospital."

Original post

Tripacer? Sounds like a combination of luck and good piloting. If I remember correctly the Tripacer has a glide ratio similar to a winged brick (it ain't that bad:D).

Member for

20 years

Posts: 3,902

Pacer, not Tripacer.

Pilot believes carb icing to be the most likely cause, on a glide approach from 300 feet, at the end of the first circuit, so muffler perhaps not very warm yet.

In this case, the P.I.C is pretty much in agreement with the report of 'plummeting'.

Ah, tailwheel then.

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 1,433

Ah, tailwheel then.

The only one left on the aeroplane by all accounts....

Pilot is a friend and I am delighted he, if not the aeroplane is OK.

Having chatted with him I can support Propstrike's hypotheses.

Member for

12 years 11 months

Posts: 390

Don't you just hate it when planes... 'plummet to the ground'... after an engine failure!

When I was training and learning the EFATO procedures nobody mentioned anything about plummeting to the ground, (unless you didn't get the nose down fast enough).

Maybe the check should have been Endless Plummet After Take Off.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 16,832

:D:D:D

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

Gravity always wins, in my 35 odd years in the business, we have never left one up there.