Small plane veers off runway
UPDATED 1630CET - Nobody was injured when a small single engined airplane veered off the runway while landing at the Malta International Airport on Tuesday.Only one crew person was on board the plane at the time of the incident. The aircraft, which is used by the European Flight Academy for flight training, sufferred very slight damages upon impacting the grass on the side of the runway. A spokesperson for the MIA said that the aircraft was performing its normal landing procedures when the incident occurred. Although the authorities are still to conclude their report, the spokesperson commented that in all probability the aircraft was diverted off the runway due to some cross wind. Runway 14 was temporarily closed while the investigations were being carried out, but the airport’s operations were not hindered as the other runway was used, the spokesperson concluded. www.di-ve.com

UPDATED 1700CET - Nobody was injured when a small single engined airplane veered off the runway while landing at the Malta International Airport on Tuesday.Only one crew person was on board the plane at the time of the incident. The aircraft sufferred very slight damages upon impacting the grass on the side of the runway. A spokesperson for the MIA said that the aircraft was performing its normal landing procedures when the incident occurred. Although the authorities are still to conclude their report, the spokesperson commented that in all probability the aircraft was diverted off the runway due to some cross wind. Runway 14 was temporarily closed while the investigations were being carried out, but the airport’s operations were not hindered as the other runway was used, the spokesperson concluded. A similar aircraft belonging to the same company which had crashed in September 2007 In a statement, the European Pilot Academy -- which operates the aircraft for flight training purposes -- said that the aircraft registered 9H-ADU, type Tecnam P92J was carrying out a test flight which is mandatory post to every inspection that aircrafts undergo. “Approximately at 1215 the aircraft was cleared to land on runway 14 and the landing was normal up to a point during its roll out (point of landing till full stop), where it seems that the aircraft was suddenly caught by a strong gust of crosswind. “The result of this was that the aircraft skidded of to the left hand side of the runway suffering minor damage to the undercarriage in the process coming to a stop in the grass. The pilot was unhurt but was sent for a standard medical check,” the company said. “It simply seems to be an unfortunate incident of being caught out at the wrong time upon roll out where the pilot was not in a position to get airborne again nor did he have the distance or time to stop the aircraft under a normal condition. “This is something that could have happened to anyone at that particular moment,” the company went on, as it clarified that the aircraft had not suffered from any tire blow outs nor did anything defective occur during landing. In September last year, another training aircraft belonging to the same company had crash-landed near the fireworks factory in Luqa after suffering from an engine failure. The female instructor and a student who were on board at the time of the incident walked away unharmed, even though the aircraft had landed on its top in a field near Garibaldi Road.