WW1 era plane makes emergency landing on Sidmouth beach - video

[planetgeli]

Devon: light aircraft makes emergency landing after engine failure

That’s a pretty cool landing on stones. Well done to the pilot (and whoever did the video - plane lands from the left at 37 seconds in).

 

[Magnus McGinty]

It’s always when you’ve left your telephoto lens at home.

 

[Lancman]

Brilliant bit of flying and it says a lot for the undercarriage.

 

[A380]

Well done to the pilot, good decision making.

 

[Cid]

On being questioned the pilot was hear to reply 'well I say old boy, I was just giving a bit of a demonstration to some yanks orf the coast of Bermuda, and now I'm back here in Blighty, haven't the foggiest what's going on if I'm honest. Is there any gin?'.

 

[Slo-mo]

It does make you wonder if something as old as that should be in the air.....vintage cars never leave the ground but get a problem up there...

 

[cupid_stunt]

Blimey, he did well.

Love this comment '[she] was left with “jelly legs” after the crash landing', I would have been in need of a change of underwear!

 

[Chilli.s]

Great flying and even better luck.

 

[rubbershoes]

There's a fantastic tea shop just up the beach from there.

It does massive bits of cake and has views over the beach so he could keep on eye on his plane while he's there

 

[A380]

It does make you wonder if something as old as that should be in the air.....vintage cars never leave the ground but get a problem up there...

They belong in the air not stuck in a museum gathering dust.

 

[David Clapson]

The Mirror covered it too Vintage plane makes dramatic emergency landing on beach next to dog walkers

 

[Slo-mo]

They belong in the air not stuck in a museum gathering dust.

I get what you are saying but don't know where you draw the line to be honest. In this incident no one was killed or hurt it seems but potentially there could have been fatalities on the ground.

No matter how well built something was by the standards of the day, one hundred years is a long time.

 

[Lancman]

Certificates of Airworthiness are issued on current standards and must be renewed.

 

[Slo-mo]

Certificates of Airworthiness are issued on current standards and must be renewed.

Ok, so it's not like a car MOT where, for example, older vehicles aren't required to have seatbelts?

 

[StoneRoad]

not a crash landing ! that was an emergency landing with no power.

the pilot did very well to touch down safely on pebbles and it says a lot for the plane

 

[Slo-mo]

The Mirror covered it too Vintage plane makes dramatic emergency landing on beach next to dog walkers

Interestingly that says it was a 1930s plane. Still very old of course.

It also mentions people "running for their lives". So what if there had been someone in the beach unable to run?

 

[David Clapson]

They probably would have died. But shingle beaches are difficult to walk on, so someone with mobility issues probably wouldn't be there.

Single-engined planes of all ages occasionally lose power. If we knew the type of engine we could probably look up stats for its reliability. The risk of it killing someone on the ground is probably far, far lower than the chance of being killed by a car or by cancer.

Edit: here's a discussion on a pilots' forum Morane MS.315 lands on beach at Sidmouth... - PPRuNe Forums. The consensus seems to be that the pilot chose the shingle, which was a risk to him and his passenger and the aircraft, as opposed to the sand, because there were people walking on the sand.

The aircraft dates from 1932 and the engine was still being produced in 1951.

Another edit: this particular aircraft has a modern engine Rotec R3600 - Wikipedia

 

[A380]

Interestingly that says it was a 1930s plane. Still very old of course.

It also mentions people "running for their lives". So what if there had been someone in the beach unable to run?

Looking at the video the people running for their lives were either invisible or living with the disability of living only in the imagination of a Metro sub editor.

 

[A380]

A video from much closer ( almost on the touch down point).

For the benefit of Metro sub editors, note the absence of people running for their lives...

 

[jusali]

Packed beach