FLYING instructor Ian Gumbrell told yesterday how a normal touchdown suddenly became a crash-landing. On a refresher course, qualified pilot Tim Sturgess was at the controls when the accident happened.
‘We weren’t worried for our lives - we just noticed the right wing go down at the last moment,’ said Mr Gumbrell.
He described the landing as ‘perfectly normal’ apart from the last-second collapse of the undercarriage.
The French Robin 200 aerobatic plane was left facing the wrong way on the airport’s runway.
Alderney Airport manager Keith Webster said: ‘As crashes go, it was fairly routine. We’ve had several like that over the last 10 to 15 years.’
Former Aurigny pilot John Quaile had landed as a passenger at the airport minutes before the incident.
‘The landing conditions were excellent with very little wind. When I heard the bells going off, I looked out and saw the plane on runway 26 turned 160 degrees with the right side looking quite low and the engine still on,’ he said.
The airport had to close for 45 minutes while the runway was cleared by airport firefighters.
The small plane had flown out of Bournemouth where Mr Gumbrell’s Dorset Flying Club business is based.
He thought the damage would be easily repairable.?
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