Pilots forced to land their aircraft in Angus field

GLIDING: Lack of hot air caused pair to come down but neither were hurt

The chap who lifts the tatties would get a bit of a fright because they would have come in low over him. FLEUR BAXTER

Two pilots escaped uninjured after their aircraft were forced to land on farmland in Angus yesterday.

A lack of hot air to keep them in the sky saw them come down in a field north of Kirkton of Monikie at around 11.20am.

The pilots had departed from the Scottish Gliding Centre at Portmoak and are said to be experienced instructors.

There were not thought to be any passengers on board either aircraft.

While neither of the pilots were injured and the gliders were believed to be undamaged, the police and the Scottish Ambulance Service were called to the scene at East Skichen farm as a precaution.

Both aircraft are thought to have been uplifted by 2.30pm.

Fleur Baxter of East Skichen said she had been unaware of the incident until her husband mentioned it.

“He said to me, ‘don’t be alarmed but there’s a plane in the field’,” she said.

“Everybody appears to be fine thankfully.”

Mrs Baxter, known for her creative displays made of hay bales each autumn, including a Dennis the Menace design this year, said the gliders had come down in a stubble field where no crops were growing.

“The chap who lifts the tatties would get a bit of a fright though because they would have come in low over him.”

Mrs Baxter joked her farm appeared to be a bit of a hot spot for stricken aircraft.

Several years ago a Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer crash-landed in one of her fields as it carried out an exercise.

“It was there for days,” she said. A police spokesman said: “Two gliders have landed in a field due to lack of thermals, or hot air currents.

“They were flying from Kinross and ran out of hot air.

“They made the decision to make a landing and landed in a field. There was two of them. They uplifted their own aircraft.

“We did go. We just traced them and spoke to the pilots.

“We got the call at 11.22am. There was no damage to any of the aircraft, they were both towed away on trailers.”

Top: The pilots’ flight route. Above: One of the aircraft in the field.