Cause of aircraft crash a mystery
Date published: 15 September 2015
![The damaged plane ended up in a field The damaged plane ended up in a field](/uploads/f2/news/img/2015914_125237.jpg)
The damaged plane ended up in a field
A question mark remains following an air crash in which the 82-year-old Oldham pilot had a miracle escape.
Pilot Malcolm Hill was accompanied by his wife Margaret and another married couple when their private plane careered off the runway and crashed through a wall at Crosland Hill airfield near Huddersfield. The four-seater Piper Cherokee Arrow was wrecked but Mr Hill, from Grasscroft, and his passengers walked away with only slight injuries.
A newly published air accident investigation report said the aircraft developed a swing to the left during take off that the pilot was unable to correct. The aircraft left the runway, ran down an embankment and crashed through a stone wall.
Though no firm cause could be identified for the crash, the report said photographs showed marks on the runway where the aircraft began its take-off roll. Mr Hill believed the nose landing gear retracted and compromised his ability to steer the plane - but investigators weren’t able to refute or confirm the pilot’s theory.
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