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Pilot unhurt after drama near Cardiff Airport

A 22-year-old pilot escaped death after his Robin 200 light aircraft fell 500 feet from the sky following an engine failure over fields near Cardiff Airport.

David Jamieson from Cwmbran said that his 60 second ordeal was taken up with alerting air traffic controllers to the problem and then following the prescribed procedure of locating the nearest field and attempting to land there - which he did without a scratch.

The computing graduate told the South Wales Echo: "I was practising landing and taking off, then all of a sudden I heard a rough-sounding noise from the engine and then it stopped totally."

A period of the aircraft's flight when it isn't flying fast enough to create the necessary lift from underneath the wings - alerted by what is known as a 'stall warner' - was cited by David as a possible cause as he explained: "When this happens, it comes down from the sky like a brick."

The experience has not put David off as he told the newspaper he plans to pursue flying as a career.

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