Pilot's incredible survival from Tayside golf course crash STV Video2

The pilot of a light aircraft which crashed onto a golf course in Dundee /
Vince Hagedorn from Chelmsford got into difficulty while flying over the city around 4.50pm on Wednesday.
He managed to steer his CTLS by Flight DEsign plane away from built up areas and crash landed into some trees on the 15th hole of the Caird Park Golf Course.
Mr Hagedorn had been flying from Barrow in Furness to Kinross when he got into difficulty over Dundee. He was unable to land at Dundee airport and chose a golf course to avoid hitting houses.
Taking inspiration from the fictional World War One pilot Biggles, he decided to make a pancake landing - an emergency maneuver where the airplane drops flat onto the ground, or in this case the trees, from a low altitude.
Mr Hagedorn said: "I just stalled into the tree. So instead of going straight into the trees, and having things sliced off by going through all the big tree trunks I actually banged into it (onto the side) which meant my seat effectively was taking the weight off the impact, so I wasnt thrown through the windscreen which I certainly would have been because I was doing 70 knots just before impact.
"I wasnt scared, not in the slightest. Im very lucky because you cant tell what is going to happen when you hit a tree."
The plane was wedged in branches high above the ground and firefighters placed a 44ft ladder against the trees. Mr Hagedorn managed to climb down the ladder to safety with only a cut on his head.

Caird Park Golf Course is in extensive parkland on the outskirts of Dundee, around two miles from the city centre. Golfers praised the pilot for preventing the plane from coming down on a nearby housing estate and roads.

Greg Martin said: "It's incredibly lucky. The pilot has not just saved his own life but avoided a catastrophe. It is a miracle he is alive. He must have been pretty capable at handling that aeroplane.

"The pilot must have seen what was ahead and kept away from the built-up areas. He deserves credit."

Pat Walmsley, from Tayside Fire and Rescue, commented: "We are amazed at where the plane had landed in trees and where it was stuck - equally amazed that the guy was able to speak to us from 50ft up in that tree to indicate to us that he was relatively uninjured and conscious and well."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Flight Design
• Light Sport Aircraft
• ultra light
• ultralight aircraft
• CTSW
• CTLS
• MC

[Godskid66]

Howard Hughes attempted to land in a golf course once after engine failure to avoid hitting homes, only to hit a military officers roof of his house, then crashing the plane, where it burst into flames.

[CFITOMAHAWK]

He ran out of fuel, then ran out of balls to make a good safe landing on the grass then ran out of the true story by fabricating lies of Its better to stall instead of landing. This is a GOOD EXAMPLE OF A LIAR FLYER. Spinal Compression is a disabling condition that happens on most stalled crashes.I know some or knew. They don't even want to go to airport anymore after they realized they stalled/wrecked a good plane, their Backbone and rear end too. Have been a Bush Pilot/Aerobatics CFI 23 year

[hangarrat101]

just read the accident report on this the other day. the muppet ran the aircraft out of fuel.

[tampabayaerosport]

Ya I meant to do that!  18 runways to choose from... He picked a tree? And bragged about it. I love this guy!

[twohelmets]

This guy had a golf course to land on. Any bull about going for the tree is exactly that, bull. Might be the nicest guy in the world, but this is a piloting fail and big time.

[LTF85199]

One smart Pilot

[BMG4ME]

He was my Maths teacher at school - and the person responsible for launching me into my career. Also one of the nicest people you've ever met. Pure genius, I am glad that he survived. Watching him tell the story reminds me of those Maths lessons in the Sixth Form at Bancroft's.

[LarryCanFly]

Very cool. I did that once in a GT-400. Stalled into the tops of 100 foot tall pine and fir trees at about the stall speed of 30mph, but I went all the way to the ground - lucky to hit a 6" thick horizontal branch of a tree that broke my fall and broke off my left wing slowing me down so it was more like two 50 foot falls. "Landed" like a lawn dart with fuel dripping onto my back. I undid my 4 point harness and walked out of the forest without a scratch. The feelings and emotions after are-

[Jamesfromnyc]

Wow the media twists stuff. This guy ran out of fuel and from seeing blogs from people who fly with him, he shouldn't have been flying. To pick hitting trees at 70k is rediculous. The stall speed on the CT is 39k! Its a miracle he survived and didn't hurt anyone - true! But he don't belong flying IMO. Hmm, smooth fairway or trees, that is an easy decision to make.

[dog737800]

The most g's the body can take is from the front. That is why, people are told " heads down, grab ankles" if an airliner is crashing, more commonly know as the brace position. Christ, what a bullsh*tter, We're all human and make mistakes, why can't you just put your hands in the air and say "hey, I made a mistake" Big Deal. Worse type of person in a cockpit is a liar. My seat took the impact! ha, piss off, Idiot