OAP Pilot Lands On Road


A pensioner attempting to land a plane mistook a road for the runway, an accident report says.

He only noticed his mistake when he hit a speed bump.

The pilot believed he had found the landing strip despite noticing "a kerb to the side and lamp posts to his left", the report continues.

The 68-year-old, who has not been named, was an experienced private pilot who had clocked up more than 1,000 hours in the air over the years.

However, he had flown for just four hours in the three months before the accident in August last year and only landed at the Shobdon Aerodrome - the site of the mishap - three times before.

The accident happened during a solo flight from Coventry, the monthly bulletin from the Air Accidents Investigations Branch reports.

"When close to touchdown, the pilot noticed that the airfield was different from what he remembered," it states.

"Shortly after touching down, the aircraft ran over a speed bump which caused it to veer left and leave the road."

The plane's left wing hit a tree and its right wing was almost entirely sheared off after colliding with a lamppost.

The pilot managed to escape from the wreck unscathed, although his pride was damaged.

The road, near Leominster, Herefordshire, was free of traffic - it had only just been built.