Pilot landed plane in sea after engine lost power
APILOT crashed his small plane just metres from a popular beach after his aircraft suffered unexplained engine failure, a report has said.
The Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee crash-landed in shallow water at Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire, on September 4 last year.
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report published yesterday said the light aircraft’s unnamed 53-year-old pilot came down along the water’s edge after aborting an attempt to land on the beach itself to avoid crashing into people.
The report said the pilot, who had 339 hours of flying experience, noticed a vibration shortly after reaching cruising level and that his engine had begun to “run roughly”.
He failed in his attempts to resolve the loss of power and was unable to maintain level flight, so decided on a forced landing.
The report said: “His intention was to land on a beach, but, due to the presence of people, the pilot instead landed along the water’s edge.
“The aircraft landed in shallow water on its main landing gear, but the nose gear broke off when it contacted the water.
“The pilot was uninjured and able to vacate the aircraft unaided.”
The report said an examination of the aircraft’s engine did not conclusively determine the cause of the failure to the piston engine.
The plane’s nose landing gear and propeller suffered damage, and the aircraft took in salt water due to its partial submersion in the sea.
A statement by the AAIB said: “During his recent biennial flight with an examiner, the pilot had received coaching on conducting forced landings.
“This emphasised ‘flying the aircraft’ to ensure a loss of control did not occur.
“This is good advice as a number of recent fatal accidents investigated by the AAIB have been due to a loss of control following a partial loss of engine power.”
Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed that the light aircraft took off from Haverfordwest Airport at 12.59pm, before it crashed around 1.15pm.
No other injuries were reported at the Blue Flag-standard beach in West Wales, which is popular with tourists and renowned for surfing.
Lifeguard Luke Evans, 23, said after the crash: “I looked over and saw that the plane was only five metres from the water so it was obvious what was happening. We were the first responders and ran down to the scene with our trauma bag.
“The plane was sitting in very shallow water and the wheel had come off but the shell was intact. The pilot was badly shaken and had some facial and head injuries, but was still conscious and able to communicate.
“We assessed him and then were able to help him up the beach, back to the lifeguard unit, where we gave him oxygen and waited for the ambulance to arrive.
“The plane made quite a splash when it came down but luckily it was pretty quiet on the beach and in the water, so there were no injuries to anyone else.”