Monday, February 17, 2014

Student pilot 'wanted to crash plane'

A trainee pilot tried to crash a plane carrying both himself and his flight instructor in a suicide attempt after beating his trainer around the head with a rock, a court in eastern Germany heard on Monday.

He is accused of attempted murder by allegedly hitting the 73-year-old flight instructor around the head with the rock after the plane took off from an air strip in Strausberg, Brandenburg.

The Cessna light aircraft underwent an emergency landing last June after the fight broke out in the cockpit between the 52-year-old student pilot and his flight instructor.

But the two gave conflicting explanations for the crash.

The trainee claimed his instructor sexually harassed him whilst in the air, causing the tussle, and after the plane touched down pulled out a knife, at which point the trainee hit him with a rock in self-defense.

The flight instructor, meanwhile, accused the trainee of attacking him while airborne, before trying to crash the plane in a suicide attempt.

After the emergency landing in a field left the single engine aircraft upended, the trainee fled the scene and was discovered by a search dog hours later, asleep in a clump of bushes, the BZ newspaper reported.

The case at the court in Frankfurt (Oder) continues.


Story, photo and comments/reaction:  http://www.thelocal.de

The accused allegedly attempted to murder his flight instructor in a suicide attempt. 
Photo: DPA

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