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Cambridge pilot admits he is lucky to be alive after plane crash in woods




A member of the Cambridge Independent print team says he is lucky to be alive after the plane he was piloting crashed near Spanhoe Airfield at Laxton in Northamptonshire on Sunday (July 21).

The infrastructure manager at Iliffe Print in Milton, Nick Preston, was at the controls of his Midget Mustang when the plane stalled at a height of 700 feet and came down in woodland close to the airfield at about 3.30pm.

Mr Preston was on his way back from celebrating 30 years of Breighton Aerodrome’s International Bücker Fest and Hangar Bash when the incident happened.

Pilot lucky to be alive after plane crash. Picture: Corby Fire Station Red Watch
Pilot lucky to be alive after plane crash. Picture: Corby Fire Station Red Watch

Mr Preston, an experienced pilot, said: “I flew back to Leicester and had something to eat and decided I was going to go back to Sibson to take the plane back. I flew over Spanhoe to see what the windsock was doing and could have landed there, but as I pulled up it stalled.

“If it had happened at 2,000 feet I could have recovered but I didn’t have time at 600-700 feet. I ended up in the canopy of the forest and just before impact I had pulled the stick right back to point upwards and it was then I blacked out.

“The crash took a wing off, plus the engine and fuel tank, which is a really good thing. I was found half-an-hour later by a friend of mine, Hamish, wandering around the forest talking gibberish, so he thought there was nothing wrong with me.”

Cambridge Independent infrastructure manager Nick Preston. (14279436)
Cambridge Independent infrastructure manager Nick Preston. (14279436)

Mr Preston was taken to hospital in the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance and suffered a number of injuries to his neck and legs and was airlifted to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for treatment and he is expected to make a full recovery.

He added: “I feel unbelievably lucky to still be alive. You don’t normally walk away from these things. It hasn’t put me off flying. I am really badly bruised like I’ve been in a washing machine and put on spin. The emergency services have been fantastic.”

The Air Accident Branch has been informed.



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