A STUDENT pilot has been thrown out of a flying club because he crash landed one of its planes.
Anthony Collins, 48, of Southchurch Road, Southend, was in a Cessna 152 when it ended up nose down on the runway after he misjudged a landing.
The plane, based at Southend Airport, is owned by the Flight Centre. When Mr Collins returned the following weekend, staff refused to let him in.
He claimed: “My flight instructor and six friends were so angry about my treatment they resigned from the Flight Centre and joined Seawing, a flying club next door.”
Dad-of-three Mr Collins, a gas engineer, has been a member of the £80 a year club for more than 18 months.
He was flying solo as part of a £160-an-hour course to gain a private pilot’s licence.
He has passed all the stringent tests needed to apply for a licence and to fly a plane and the club was insured for him to fly.
However, a spokesman for the Flight Centre said it was unlikely Mr Collins’s would be returning. He said: “If you lent your car to a friend and they crashed it, would you lend it to them again?”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel