Narrow escape as plane flips over on landing
Training paid off says Hinckley pilot
A PILOT had a terrifying narrow escape after his plane flipped onto its roof during an emergency landing.
Kevan Kirby, 67, from Hinckley was returning to Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire with his co-pilot when his engine cut out, forcing a downwind landing into a field.
He was gently applying the brakes after the short wing CT aircraft touched down at around 60mph when the nose dropped suddenly and it lurched forward onto its wings.
Kevan hit his head on the roof during the crash but, after tests at George Eliot hospital, it was confirmed that he was not seriously injured.
His co-pilot emerged unscathed from the incident.
The height and position of the plane when the engine cut out forced him to land at a higher speed than usual.
Kevan said: “When you’re doing a landing at that speed, you’re pretty much in the hands of God.
“The other side of the hedge were some power lines.
“There’s no telling what would have happened if we had gone into them.”
He said the tight safety harness him and his co-pilot were wearing probably saved their lives.
He also said: “We practice engine failures on a very regular basis.
“If you’re not prepared for it, if you only practice landing straight down the runway, you are not really experiencing what you should be doing.”
Issues with fuel supply were thought to be the reason for the engine failing, according to a report from the Air Accidents Investigation Bureau.
The tanks were checked before departure and there was plenty for the planned short flight plus contingencies.
The report said: “It was possible that there was water in the fuel which the pilots were unable to check, or that air was drawn into the fuel system due to a low fuel level and the design of the system.”
Both wings were drained of fuel for the recovery and it was discovered that one was empty while the other contained a large amount, with no sign of a leak.
Kevan said that the engines on that model of aircraft are usually very reliable.