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.

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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.

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The 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.”