A PILOT and his passenger had a miraculous escape from injury this week when their aeroplane made a forced landing in a river minutes after taking off from Dunkeswell Aerodrome on the Blackdown Hills above Wellington.

The drama prompted thoughts of the Tom Hanks’ movie 'Sully: Miracle on the Hudson', the story of how a commercial airliner pilot saved the lives of his passengers in 2009 by crash-landing on the Hudson River in New York after a bird strike.

The Dunkeswell light aircraft suffered engine failure just three minutes after taking-off at 1.50 pm and came down in the River Axe, near Musbury, East Devon, about six miles from the airfield.

Firefighters help the crashed pilot and passenger from a wing of the aircraft Dunkeswell River Axe
Firefighters help the crashed pilot and passenger from a wing of the aircraft. (Allan Emmett)

A military aircraft picked up the pilot’s distress call to Exeter Airport Air Traffic Control and circled over the crash scene while Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue (DSFR) mobilised crews from Seaton and Colyton, followed by a heavy rescue tender from Yeovil, two 4x4 appliances from Bridport and Middlemoor, in Exeter, as well as a boat team from Exmouth, and supporting appliances and officers.

Police and ambulance crews were also sent but initially there was no sign of the crashed aircraft, a 1967 Piper Cherokee.

A search and rescue operation was started and eventually the firefighters found the aircraft in the river, where it had come to a stop after the pilot had carried out a text-book forced landing in a field, ending when the plane skidded into the water.

The downed Dunkeswell Piper Cherokee lies in the River Axe light aircraft crash
The downed Dunkeswell Piper Cherokee lies in the River Axe. (DSFR)

The plane suffered only minor damage and both the pilot and his woman passenger managed to escape from the cabin onto a wing of the aircraft but were unable to get off because of the high riverbank.

The firefighters confirmed the pair were uninjured and threw them lifejackets while a rescue was planned.

They made the scene safe and set up downstream protection while an environmental protection unit and support pump was called from Taunton Fire Station as a precaution because of concern over aviation fuel and oil leaking into the river.

The Piper Cherokee aircraft in the River Axe where it was forced to land just minutes into a flight from Dunkeswell Aerodrome.
The Piper Cherokee aircraft in the River Axe where it was forced to land just minutes into a flight from Dunkeswell Aerodrome. (DSFR)

The Bridport 4x4 crew managed to access the other side of the river and safely extract the two people unharmed using a triple extension ladder.

The pair were handed over to ambulance crews to be checked over and it was confirmed that neither fuel or oil had leaked into the river and the Taunton firefighters were stood down en route.

A DSFR spokesman said: “Fire control received a call from Exeter Airport Air Traffic Control reporting a light aircraft having to make an emergency landing in the area of Seaton.

Local farmer Laurence Gay inspects a heavy rescue fire brigade tender stuck in a deep ditch before towing it out with his tractor Funkeswell River Axe light aircraft crash fored landing
Local farmer Laurence Gay inspects a heavy rescue fire brigade tender stuck in a deep ditch before towing it out with his tractor. (Allan Emmett)

“The incident commander confirmed that the two persons were not seriously injured and needed assisting off the aircraft situated in the river.

“The crews got to work rescuing the two persons from the aircraft. In addition, the crews monitored the water for any potential contaminant leaks into the river.”

There was also a minor drama for the emergency services crews during the incident when the Yeovil heavy rescue tender became stuck in a ditch trying to reach the scene.

The tender had to be pulled free with a tractor driven by local farmer Laurence Gay, whose family run dairy farming business E. Gay and Sons.

Emergency services and a tractor were involved in rescuing the Dunkeswell light aircraft from the River Axe.
Emergency services and a tractor were involved in rescuing the Dunkeswell light aircraft from the River Axe. (Allan Emmett)

Mr Gay later also used his tractor to tow the crashed aircraft out of the river.

Eyewitness Allan Emmett said: “The fire engine that rescued them got stuck in a deep ditch. Laurence had to rescue the rescue service and the pilot and passenger in his big green John Deere (a make of tractor).”

The crashed Piper Cherokee had flown into Dunkeswell Aerodrome from Solent Airport, in Hampshire, a week before Tuesday’s accident.

Firefighters at the scene of the river rescue after the Dunkeswell aircraft forced landing.
Firefighters at the scene of the river rescue after the Dunkeswell aircraft forced landing. (Allan Emmett)

But for the engine failure, it would have made a short round trip and returned to the Dunkeswell airstrip.

The aircraft is registered to a trustee of the G-AVSC Group who lives in Fairfield Road, Exmouth, Devon.