A pilot on his first solo night flight mistook a busy A road for a runway in a 'serious incident', a probe report has found. The rookie took off from Newcastle airport around 7.45pm on January 9 2022.
The 72-year-old had just 233 hours of flight experience before taking off. The report found they misidentified lights on the road for those of a runway, before drifting the aircraft south of the airport.
After realising they had lost track of the intended route, the pilot established their position and allowed the plane to hover at around 300ft above the ground. Realising he was too low, he then quickly ascended.
Turning back towards the airfield after reaching a safe level, the pilot was then helped in finding the runway by air traffic control. The Reims Cessna F172M Light Aircraft was landed in a safe and secure fashion.
Following the mishap, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch filed a report on the occurrence, classifying it as a 'serious incident'. Thankfully, no parties involved were injured.
