Pilot spiralled towards ground 'like a falling sycamore leaf'

The 43-year-old man lost control of the Pegasus Quantum before spiralling hundreds of feet to the ground in Clent, near Stourbridge.

A report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch report can not explain how one of the microflight wings folded before the crash.

But it said the life of the pilot, who suffered serious injury, was saved by landing on a large agricultural bale.

Witness statements in the report describe the microflight spiralling down like a 'falling sycamore leaf'.

The pilot had little memory of what happened before the crash off Holy Cross Lane on August 15 last year.

He received trauma care at the scene before being taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with a serious leg injury and chest pain.

The report states: “It is not known what caused the accident but it appears that, following an event, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and was unable to recover it to normal flight before impacting the ground.

“A witness who saw the aircraft in the final moments reported that it had come down on top of a large farm bale which had absorbed a lot of the impact energy.”

It adds: "During the impact with the ground he received serious leg injuries but no life threatening other injuries.

"The arrival on the large agricultural bale with its energy absorbing qualities was probably the main element that made this a survivable accident.”

The report says that the pilot had flown to Otherton, near Penkridge, from Halfpenny Green, near Wolverhampton, in good conditions to carry out his annual flight test but because of a problem with the engine heat had decided to return to Halfpenny Green.

However, it says that during the flight the microlight suddenly began spiraling down to the ground out of control.

The pilot thought this began at between 2,000 to 3,000 feet but witnesses thought it happened at between 200 and 500ft.