Neither pilot nor passenger hurt as first world war-era plane narrowly misses people on Sidmouth beach

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in a light aircraft on a beach in Sidmouth after the engine failed.

Neither the pilot or passenger were hurt in the incident on the Devon coast on Saturday.

The first world war-era plane narrowly missed people on the stony beach.

A helicopter for the national police air service spotted the plane while returning from an incident in east Somerset and were able to confirm the plane had made a safe landing and that all the occupants were safe.

NPAS Exeter (@NpasExeter) While recovering from an incident in East Somerset spot a plane which had landed on the beach at Sidmouth after engine problems. Safe landing and all occupants okay. pic.twitter.com/rjynND9zcs

The pilot, Zac Rocky, told the Sidmouth Herald his only option was to attempt to land on the beach when the engine began to lose power.

He said: “We were flying along the coast taking in the beautiful scenery of the Jurassic coast. The engine had some issues. It began to lose power, it faded. I cycled a few options in the cockpit to no avail and at that point you have to choose somewhere to come down.

“The land option inland was unavailable. I could have made it but it looked unpleasant. The scenery around here is not a nice place to land something like that and also you need to be around somebody – you need to be near somebody who can help you once you’re down if there’s an issue.”

The beach was still risky, he said. “Who knows what could have happened when it landed – it could have flipped on the stones.”

Heidi Davey (@HeidiDavey) Coastguard teams helping to recover the plane at Sidmouth. The pilot and passenger safely made emergency landing around 5pm pic.twitter.com/wJZ1yLevk7

Trudi Spiller, who was the plane’s only passenger, told Devon Live that she tried to wave her arms to warn people on the beach to move out of the way and was left with “jelly legs” after the crash landing.

She said: “I was slightly frightened. It wasn’t like my life flashed before me or anything but I was thinking, ‘here we go’. But I also had absolute faith Zac would land it. He is an amazing, fantastic pilot and I had every confidence in him.”

Sidmouth coastguards reportedly helped tow the plane away from the shoreline, but on Sunday it had to be dismantled so it could be removed from the beach.