Pilot's mid-air horror after discovering speedometer had been sabotaged with glue

North Wales police launch investigation



56-year-old pilot fears 'malicious interference'

Five-yearold son was on board



A pilot averted disaster after discovering in mid-air that his flight instruments had been sabotaged with glue.

Doug Blair had already taken off in his light aircraft, accompanied by his five-year-old son Daniel, when he realised that the airspeed indicator was not working.

North Wales Police confirmed today that they are investigating what the 56-year-old said was 'malicious interference' and have issued a warning to other pilots after the incident at Mona airstrip in Anglesey, North Wales.



Sabotage: Doug Blair was in mid-air when he realised that his Red ARV Super2 - similar to the aircraft pictured - had been tampered with



Without an airspeed indicator the pilot has no way of knowing how fast he is going and faces the possibility that the plane will stall and crash. Keeping a cool head, the father-of-two managed to land the ARV Super2 plane. It was then that he discovered glue had been used to tamper with the aircraft's instruments. Mr Blair, a Scotsman who lives in Conwy, told how he was forced to speed up his plane and land as his wife and other son James, 4, watched from below. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Passengers stranded on a plane at Gatwick for NINE hours following heavy fog Hundreds of passengers in peril as two lasers target jets from three miles away Share this article Share He said: 'This was potentially very serious, not having the airspeed indicator working leaves the danger of stalling.

'A similar problem was blamed for an Air France crash in 2009.

'I noticed the problem soon after take-off. I was only a few feet off the floor when I realised but I didn't just want to land on the same runway. I wanted time to think about how I landed.

Crime scene: The Mona airstrip at Anglesey Airport, where the suspected sabotage took place. A police investigation has been launched and pilots have been warned to be vigilant

'The key thing is to remain calm in these situation, which was hard because my son was next to me and my wife and other son on the ground, listening to the radio messages.



'Thankfully because of the long length of the runway at Mona I could raise the speed to ensure there was no danger of stalling and still bring the plane to a stop on the runway.'



Fortunately, some weeks prior to the incident, Mr Blair had read a magazine article in which a fellow pilot described how he dealt with a similar situation.



Once he landed, Mr Blair examined the pitot tube and found it had been blocked by glue or another resin.

The pitot tube is a pressure measurement gauge, not too dissimilar to a straw, has a cap on it. For the tube to become blocked it is most likely the cap was removed and the resin was pushed into the quarter-inch diameter tube.



Mr Blair said that in hotter climates than Anglesey he had heard stories of larger insects laying eggs in the pitot tuibe, but that explanation was very unlikely in this situation.

Following the incident on September 4 North Wales Police launched a sabotage probe and forensic officers are understood to be examining parts of the plane.

Inspector Gareth Evans told MailOnline today: 'I can confirm that North Wales Police are investigating the incident.



'Forensic tests are being carried out and we are speaking to members of the flying club.



'Our inquiries continue and in the meantime we have urged the club members to be vigilant.'



After the discovery, pilots in the area were warned to be vigilant.



The message read: 'I write to inform you all of an extremely serious occurrence in the hangar at Mona.



'A few days ago Doug Blair discovered that his ASI was non functional.



'His fault investigation yielded the possibility of malicious interference as the pitot tube appears to have been blocked with glue.



'The matter is now the subject of a police investigation.

