Two people escaped injury when a plane narrowly missed a wall before crashlanding at Bellarena Airport close to Limavady, an air accident report reveals.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the Department of Transport has just released its findings into the incident which occurred at Bellarena airstrip on 17 July last.
The pilot and passenger on board the Ikarus C42 light aircraft were injured.
The report revealed the plane had travelled to the Co Derry airfield from Carrickmore in Co. Tyrone and developed problems as it prepared to land.
The report says: “At the time the weather was good and the wind was varying between 190º and 170º at 12 kt.
“During the final part of the approach to Runway 30 the aircraft experienced some sink which the pilot arrested with power.
“After the aircraft crossed a four foot wall in the undershoot of the runway the pilot closed the throttle and initiated a flare at about three feet.
“As he did so the aircraft stalled and landed heavily, resulting in the aircraft’s left stub axle shearing and the nose wheel fork bending. The pilot and passenger were uninjured.”
The report concludes: “The pilot attributed the accident to being slightly slow and flaring too high.”
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