Elderly pilot ‘was lucky to survive accident’

AN elderly pilot narrowly escaped death after his light aircraft crashed into electricity power lines in Co Donegal last April while conducting unapproved aerobatic manoeuvres.

An official report into the accident claims that it was “highly fortuitous” that there were no fatalities after the two-seater plane hit 10,000-volt electricity cables just nine metres above the ground near Quigley’s Point, Co Donegal.

It blamed poor judgement on the pilot’s part as a significant factor in the cause of the accident as there was no evidence of technical malfunction or poor weather conditions.

The 63-year-old pilot and a passenger had taken off from Eglinton Airport, Derry, on April 24 last to carry out some “rolls” in the east Donegal area as part of aerobatic training.

When the pilot attempted to fly in a vertical direction to create a stall, the aircraft was forced into a spin.

The report established that the pilot only managed to recover control of the Starduster plane when it struck electricity wires after a serious loss of height.

Inspectors from the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport stated that neither the pilot nor his passenger had instructor rating to conduct such aerobatic training.

They also found that the pilot had breached several conditions under which such aircraft were permitted to fly.

900 ESB customers were without electricity for several hours after the accident. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured.