Last updated: Mon 15, Oct 2001
Europa force lands on Sark; no injuries
A couple from Devon escaped without injury on Saturday
when the
aircraft they were flying lost power. The pair were
returning from
Jersey to Exeter on Saturday afternoon in a Europa,
when, just off
the island of Sark in the Channel Islands, they began
to smell
burning and the engine cut out.
They realised that they would not make the nearest
airport - which
was Guernsey - so put down on Little Sark. Both
occupants were
pilots, and were positive about the incident. They
told the local
press that they had talked through the situation, had
decided to
make for the land rather than attempt a ditching and
pointed out
that all pilots are trained to cope with such a
situation. No, it
wouldn't put them off flying again.
The aircraft struck a hedge at the end of the landing
run but neither
occupant, although shocked, required medical
assistance.
As a matter of historical interest, the last time an
aircraft landed on
Sark was in 1942 - cars and most other motor vehicles
are banned
from the island.
|