A 63-year-old microlight pilot has blamed his own forgetfulness for an incident in which his amphibious aircraft crash landed on Holy Loch.
The tiny 2007 built Flylight Lightfly-Discus microlight – reg G CEOL – owned by John MacFarlane Pearce from Dunoon, took off from a farmer’s field on the morning of February 27 this year.
However, the pilot forgot to raise the wheels after take-off and as a result, when he attempted to land on Holy Loch, the microlight pitched forward and capsized.
The tiny aircraft was damaged but the pilot, who was unhurt managed to climb on the upturned hull to wait for help. He was rescued by the Helensburgh life-boat.
Now a newly published Air Accident Investigation Branch report into the crash says that the pilot told crash investigators that he had “skipped past the wheels check".
The report says: “The pilot reported that he normally carried out a ‘WOODS’ check before a water landing.”
WOODS stands for wind (direction and strength), wheels, obstructions, objects, depth and security.
READ MORE: Check out all the latest Helensburgh and Lomond news headlines hereThe report adds: “On this occasion, as there was negligible wind, the pilot had inadvertently skipped past the wheels check.
"He stated that in future he would retract the undercarriage after take-off once a safe height was passed.”
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