A MICROLIGHT pilot was airlifted to hospital after a ‘bird strike’ forced him into an emergency landing.
The 49-year-old was taken by Yorkshire Air Ambulance to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield after he brought the light aircraft down in a field in Lepton.
But luckily he escaped with only a bad case of whiplash.
A passenger who was also on board was unhurt.
Air traffic controllers at Leeds Bradford Airport received an SOS call shortly before 10am yesterday, when the pilot said he was in difficulty.
One of the blades of the rear propeller had been sheered off in a suspected collision with birds – known as a bird strike – which forced the engine to cut out.
There was little other damage to the aircraft.
Rob Hill, chief inspector of the British Microlight Aircraft Association, said the aircraft was a Pegasus Quantum 15 registered to an owner in Dewsbury.
It had been inspected in the last few months.
He said: “This sort of scenario is extremely unusual.
“If there is any problem with the engine or pilot being hit by a bird, he would be able to land immediately.
“The beauty of a microlight is that it is relatively easy to land in a small area.
“Because the engine is behind the pilot, if the blade were to come off, it wouldn’t cause a problem for the pilot.
“By the sounds of things, this was an extremely well executed forced landing.”
A police helicopter was immediately dispatched to the area following yesterday’s emergency call to find out the microlight’s precise location.
Emergency crews were then sent to the field, off Town End Lane, just off Pinfold Lane, when it was spotted.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “At 9.50am our support unit got a call from Leeds Bradford Airport of a distressed light aircraft in Emley.
“A helicopter went out to locate the aircraft and it was discovered just before 10am in a field with two people on board.”
Fire crews from stations in Skelmanthorpe, Wakefield and Ossett were sent to the scene.
Watch manager Jed Pilling, from Wakefield Fire Station, said: “It looked as though one person had back injuries, but there wasn’t much we could do because of the remote location of the aircraft. The air ambulance came and took one person away.”
Yorkshire Ambulance Service sent a doctor, an ambulance and a rapid recovery vehicle to the field before the air ambulance arrived.
Two men arrived shortly before 11am to recover the aircraft, which is believed to have flown from York.
The pilot is thought to have suffered whiplash and was taken to hospital as a precaution.
