Pilot's lucky escape in Dunmore microlight crash

A PILOT, and spectators at a vintage tractor rally in Dunmore, were lucky to escape without serious injuries when a microlight aircraft crashed and hit overhead electricity wires at Carrowpaden on Sunday. The pilot, understood to be from the midlands, was flying over the field where 103 vintage tractors were about to attempt to set a new Irish record for silage cutting, when his craft suddenly lost control and fell from the sky.[private] 'He seemed to be trying to correct its flight path when one of the wheels hit one overhead electricity wire and the microlight flipped over, throwing the pilot into the field,' said one spectator who was at the vintage rally. 'The pilot was lucky that the plane did not hit the second overhead wire and it was also fortunate that it did not land in the middle of spectators at the show. 'He must have fallen about 15 feet and he was lucky to have only suffered facial injuries,' he added. Paramedics attending the vintage rally treated the pilot, and the Gardai were also alerted. The craft was taken for storage to Tuam Garda station where staff from the Irish Aviation Authority in Dublin inspected it on Monday and they also examined the scene of the crash near Dunmore. Those involved in the vintage tractor rally were getting ready for their attempt to set a new Irish record for the biggest number of single chop harvesters working in the same field at the same time. 'We continued with our attempt to set a new record and we had 103 vintage tractors cutting an acre of grass a minute. 'The microlight crash did not deter us from continuing with our record breaking attempt,' said one of the organisers. He added that while the Guinness Book of Records does not have a section for this type of vintage tractor silage cutting they hope their efforts to set a new Irish record got off to a flying start on Sunday. â€â€ TG[/private]