Bodmin: Lucky escape after plane crashes on patch of gorse

Two people had a lucky escape when their light aircraft missed a runway and landed in a patch of gorse.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said three fire crews were called to the incident on Saturday lunchtime at Bodmin Airfield in Cornwall.

The two occupants from Yorkshire got themselves out of the plane uninjured.

An airfield spokesman said a gust of wind may have affected the landing of the single-engine Piper PA28.

He said the plane landed about 65ft (20m) from the start of the grass runway.

"It was extremely gusty, they must have struggled with the landing," he said.

"They landed in the gorse which acted like a mattress, so that was lucky for them.

"There were no fuel leaks, they were completely uninjured and it was all over in about four minutes."

Engineers were checking the plane over and the incident had been reported to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

The crew later took a charter flight home.

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