TURBULENCE has been blamed for a light aircraft crash in which a pilot and his passenger escaped serious injury.
Emergency services were called to Durham Tees Valley Airport shortly after noon on March 20, after the Pegasus Quantum 15 hit the runway nose-down.
An Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the collision, said the 52-year-old pilot had almost 900 hours' flying experience.
The microlight – registered G-MYZK – was 'damaged beyond economic repair' in the crash?.
The AAIB report said: "The aircraft was landing at Durham Tees Valley Airport when the accident occurred.
"The surface wind was at ten to 12 knots and described by the pilot as 'blustery'.
"Shortly before landing, the aircraft encountered turbulent air, possibly generated by the presence of large buildings upwind of the landing zone, lost height and struck the runway.
"The pilot considered that probably the approach speed had been too low for the prevailing conditions, such that the aircraft's performance was compromised when it encountered the turbulence at a critical stage of flight."
The accident did not affect any commercial flights.
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