A couple who were in a light aircraft which crashed in a Northamptonshire field escaped unhurt and were found by ambulance crews in a nearby pub.
The Dufton Europa plane crash landed in a field in Maidwell on Thursday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the field, but found an empty plane.
Ambulance crews found the pilot Iain McKay and his wife, of Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, at the The Stags Head, where they had walked after the ordeal.
Simon Nixon, the manager of the pub, said: "A lady came in her with her husband. It was not until she ordered a drink (non-alcoholic) that she said she was a bit shaken up because she'd just had a plane crash. I asked if she was OK and she had a little bit of a cut to her arm. Other than that she seemed OK.
"It's not often you have plane crashes where people are able to walk away."
An off duty policeman alerted the ambulance crews of the couple's whereabouts.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch has yet to comment.
Story and photos: http://www.bbc.com
Previous accident: July 05, 2013
http://www.aaib.gov.uk
The aircraft’s gull-wing doors were closed during pre‑flight preparation. However, the pilot reported that he did not turn round to check that the rear securing pin was properly engaged to ensure door locking. Nothing unusual was noticed during takeoff until the aircraft was passing a height of 300 ft, at which point the pilot’s door opened and, after about four seconds, detached from the aircraft. As the door detached, it struck the port wing trailing edge, causing superficial damage. The pilot made a ‘PAN PAN’ call and returned to a normal landing at Turweston. He attributed the loss of the door to his failure to carry out a visual check for correct engagement of the rear locking pin.
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