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Wednesday, August 15, 2007 | 08:27
 | | The light airplane crashed near Maldon. Photo: Essex Fire Service |
A PILOT who was forced to make an emergency landing in marshland and escaped unhurt has praised the emergency services that attended the scene.
Neil Spooner, a commercial airline pilot by profession, was attempting aerobatic stunts in his private light aircraft when he encountered a problem with the engine.
Shortly before 6.30pm on Monday the single-engine plane came down in marshes at Woodrolfe Creek, in Tollesbury, near Maldon.
Mr Spooner, 46, said his extensive training had prepared him for such a predicament but the incident had made him “appreciate what life was all about”.
“The aircraft was largely undamaged and the emergency services were very quickly on the scene,” he said.
“I would like to commend them for such a fantastic turnout and their brilliant support - it was a safe outcome, due to them.”
Mr Spooner, who lives with his wife Veda in Ardleigh, said one of the rules of aviation was to always try to make forced landings in locations away from houses to avoid risk of injury to members of the public.
He said: “You're trained over and over to deal with this sort of thing and you consider resolving the problem or at least exposing people to danger as little as possible.”
Mr Spooner has been flying for 20 years and said he had spent 14 months restoring the award-winning 1972-built craft.
The problems began as the plane dropped from the sky during a spin stunt with the engines off. When Mr Spooner tried to restart the engine, it failed and he was forced to attempt an emergency landing.
However, as the Tipsy Nipper T.66 Series 3 came down it clipped a boundary fence and went out of control, landing nose-down in RSPB marshland at Old Hall Lane, trapping the pilot inside.
Fire engines from Tollesbury, Tiptree, Colchester and Grays, were initially called out but had difficulty getting to the scene due to the remote location of the plane, about a mile into the marshes.
Mr Spooner remained in radio contact with an RAF distress helicopter and police helicopter, which were able to locate the aircraft and fly a doctor to the scene to assess his condition.
A fire engine was directed to the crash site and crews tipped the plane to allow Mr Spooner to climb out.
Yesterday he said he remained convinced that flying was a safe pursuit and said the plane could be back in the air before long after it suffered only minimal damage.
“I'd like to think that if I knuckle down it will be flying again in another couple of months. It's a very important part of my life and always has been,” said Mr Spooner.
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