Pilot escaped unhurt after emergency landing at Shropshire airfield

However, the 2000 built Socata Trinidad four seater – reg G SCIP – owned by The Studio People Ltd of Shortwave A, Criggion Radio Station, Back Lane, Criggion, Shrewsbury, was seriously damaged.

The incident happened at Sleap Airfield on the afternoon of July 19 last year.

The pilot, who had 2,642 hours flying experience, was returning from Goodwood to Welshpool.

When he retracted his landing gear one of the warning lights, which should have gone off to indicate that all the wheels had been retracted, remained on.

When he reached Welshpool he flew some low passes so those on the ground could check whether his wheels were up or down.

Although the nose wheel appeared to be down, he was told that it did not look as if it was locked in the down position.

As a result, he decided to fly to Sleap, as there were more runways there, to attempt a landing.

When he did land there the nose wheel collapsed causing damage to the propeller, probable ‘shock-loading’ to the engine and other damage to the underside of the aircraft nose.

The incident was highlighted in a newly-published air-crash report, which stated that when experts examined the plane it was found internal components of the nose gear down-lock microswich assembly were “disrupted” possibly as a result of damage during a previous accident.

The report says the plane had been involved in a similar incident in January last year, but the reasons for that one were different to the latest incident.

It was one of a number of emergency landings to have happened in the region over the last 12 months.

In March, a small plane made an emergency landing in a field near Ellesmere.

The light aircraft made the emergency landing in a field at Kenwick and ended up on its roof.

The pilot was uninjured following the incident, but was said to be suffering from shock. Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service sent eight fire appliances including the Foam Pod and the Landrover Pump to the scene.