Light aircraft crashes on road

The plane was being used to practice landings by a trainee pilot

A light aircraft ploughed through a hedge and onto a road while its trainee pilot was practising landings at an aerodrome.

The pilot and an instructor both escaped unhurt but had to be treated for shock.

The Cessna plane came to a stop on the A274, next to Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent.

The road remained closed until the air accident investigators gave authority for the plane to be moved.

The incident happened at about 1300 BST on Tuesday at the airfield, which is about eight miles west of Ashford.

The instructor from Lydd Airport and her pupil were meant to touch the plane down before taking off again.

I would suspect that nothing needs to be changed, it's so rare that it happens

Air Traffic Controller Pat Sidders

But the plane touched down, passed over barriers, crossed a ditch, went through a hedge and came to a rest on the road.

Management at Headcorn Aerodrome said the incident showed safety measures there had done their job.

Operations Manager Jamie Freeman said: "We have threshold markers which are 300m away from the main road, you then have a ditch in front of the hedge and you then have a hedge before the main road itself.

""We have talked about barriers and that sort of thing in the past but all barriers do is stop an aircraft dead.

"If you do that what tends to happen is the back of the aircraft will hinge over the front of the aircraft and you are in a worse state because the aircraft will flip over on its back."

Air traffic controller Pat Sidders said he had been involved with the airfield for more than 15 years and had only known such an incident to happen once before.

He said: "I would suspect that nothing needs to be changed, it's so rare that it happens."

The instructor and pilot were driven back to Lydd by car after being treated for shock, while the plane was sent for repairs.