Following an emergency landing that had to be carried out by two commercial pilots flying in a single-engine aircraft on Thursday afternoon, European Pilot Academy said the plane’s engine was the main focus of an intense investigation yesterday.
The two pilots escaped unhurt after they encountered difficulties and had to carry out an emergency landing in a field in Luqa.
The two-seater aircraft – a Tecnam P92-J – which is owned by European Pilot Academy, overturned and came to a standstill in a field alongside Triq Garibaldi, close to Civil Aviation Avenue at about 1pm yesterday.
Yesterday, European Pilot Academy operations manager Nigel James Dunkerley was reported as saying one pilot was Maltese, while the other was a Swiss woman.
In yesterday’s statement, Cpt. Dunkerley said the aircraft was booked to be rented out for the purposes of a skill test to be performed by Swiss candidate Melina Hunziker, who is already the holder of a commercial pilot licence, but needed to revalidate her Single Engine Piston Class Rating.
Cpt. Dunkerley said the flight examiner was Anatole Vella Gera from the Department of Civil Aviation. He used to be an employee of the company and had vast experience of the aircraft in question.
The captain explained that as the aircraft was about to land, it lost its power due to what he referred to as “a non-catastrophic engine failure”.
He said that as he took over the controls, Mr Vella Gera reacted with lighting speed, correct judgement and was in control of the aircraft at all times.
A field was chosen as the proper and safest landing zone within the reachable gliding area available.
“Unfortunately one could say that if we did not have a large amount of rainfall 48 hours before the accident, the aircraft would have sustained less damage, but this also slowed down the momentum of impact.
“The aircraft is considered as a total write-off, but the company is proud of its initial choice of fleet of training aircraft based on the knowledge with respect to the safety of the cockpit structure in these rare but specific cases.”
Cpt. Dunkerley said the internal cockpit did not sustain any form of damage; in fact both pilots managed to exit unharmed.
The aircraft was dismantled on the spot and towed away for further inspection by the Bureau of Air Accident Investigation and the Department of Civil Aviation.
The European Pilot Academy is also carrying out its own internal investigation, in order to ensure that should there be the need, safety procedures and policies will be amended or added on.
The Bureau of Air Accident Investigation and the Department of Civil Aviation have not come across any visible anomalies, according to Cpt. Dunkerley, who added that a more detailed and intense investigation – the main focus being the engine – was under way yesterday.