The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Aircraft ‘stalls’ before crashing into Fife field
Lucky escape for pilot after plane appears to flip over after crash-landing shortly after take off
A plane appeared to “stall” in the sky before crashing into a Fife field yesterday morning.
The Cessna light aircraft had taken off just seconds earlier from Fife Airport, on the outskirts of Glenrothes, before plummeting into a field just several hundred yards away.
Emergency services were scrambled to the scene, but the pilot escaped from the aircraft without serious injury, despite the plane apparently flipping over on impact.
The crash happened at around 8.45am.
Robert Carson, a local farmer, watched the drama unfold.
“The plane was very low and everybody looked up. It was like it was stalling. I thought it might have flipped when it came down,” he said.
“It stopped just a few metres away from a wall, though, and if it had hit that it could have been a lot worse.”
It is understood the plane developed a mechanical problem on take-off, forcing the pilot to ditch in a field directly opposite the runway.
Another local farmer, Chris Woodbridge, added: “I went over to see what I could do but everybody seemed to be standing about waiting for the police to arrive. There didn’t appear to be much damage, though.”
Fife Airport staff were unable to comment but operations at the site were restored just an hour after the drama unfolded.
Yesterday’s crash is not the first to have involved planes leaving from the small airfield, which is primarily used for training pilots and skydiving.
In 2013, a pilot made a miraculous escape after his plane plunged into a field near Thornton shortly after taking off from Fife Airport, while last year a pensioner cheated death after crashlanding his Pulsar XP aircraft after it developed an engine fault.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed it had been made aware of yesterday’s crash but said it did not intend to investigate further.
Meanwhile, a recovery effort of the plane commenced yesterday afternoon.
The plane wasvery low and everybody looked up. It was like it was stalling. I thought it might have flipped when it came down. ROBERT CARSON