Pilot escapes after crash landing

A 50-year-old pilot had a miraculous escape after making a crash landing in a field between south Shropshire and Bridgnorth.

The pilot, who is from Ireland, was out flying yesterday afternoon when he ran into difficulties and was forced to make an emergency landing near to Monkhopton.

However, as he brought his plane to rest in a field, one of the wheels hit a hole and the aircraft flipped over.

The man was able to exit from the vehicle and did not need to go to hospital. A spokeswoman for West Mercia Police said: "There were no casualties and no disruption to local services. We received the telephone call from the ambulance service, which had been alerted.

"Our officers went to the scene at 3pm but the pilot was okay. He even arranged his own recovery for the aircraft."

Eyewitness Simon Devey, a freelance photographer, was passing shortly after it happened and saw the stricken plane in the field. Mr Devey said the plane was marooned off the B4368, at Monkhampton, just outside Bridgnorth on the Bridgnorth to Craven Arms road.

He said: "The pilot was a 50-year-old man from Ireland whose engine cut out and he managed to land it in the field next to the road on its wheels but then he hit a hole in the field and flipped the aeroplane right over."