Cause of plane crash near Wolverhampton airfield revealed
An engine lost power and a pensioner's plane landed upside down as it crashed in a field near Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green Airfield, a report has said.
A new report into the incident – which happened last October and saw the pilot walk away without a scratch – says he also made an incorrect selection on his control pad after the engine failure.
The pilot was trapped in the cockpit of the plane, which received damage to its fin and the propeller.
However, the 65-year-old, flying a 1982-built Cassutt Racer craft, owned by Dudley man Terence Dennis Gardner, was uninjured.
The report says the crash happened on the morning of October 19 last year and the pilot, who had 303 hours' flying experience, was engaged in 'circuit practice'.
It added : "On base leg of the first circuit, the engine lost power. Unable to reach the runway, the pilot landed the aircraft in a ploughed field short of the runway threshold.
"It pitched over, inverted, and he was trapped in the cockpit until rescued by the Airfield Fire Service.
"He believes that he may have inadvertently selected the mixture control to fully lean on the downwind leg instead of applying the carburettor heat. The aircraft rolled for about 50 ft before pitching over, inverted some 250 to 300m before the runway threshold."
Flight information service officer at the airport, Tony Rowlands, said at the time the crash had been as a result of partial engine failure.
He added: "I've worked here for eight years and that's the first accident of that nature I've ever seen. It was very unusual. Luckily, the pilot only had minor injuries."
