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Words and photos by Gerry Humphreys

Dave Bruton had an amazing escape on June 5^th when the top surface of the wing of the aircraft he was flying disintegrated during an aerobatics display at the Foynes Irish Coffee Festival.

What started as a thrilling display by one of the country's top aerobatic pilots suddenly changed to a dramatic emergency situation as the pilot called 'Mayday'..... Shannon ATC responded immediately... 'cleared to land at Shannon'... 'Negative.... I'm going down' replied Dave as he struggled to control the stricken aircraft. He had only seconds to act... he thought about jumping out and using his parachute, but realised he was too low... his only chance was to somehow find a clear area and do the best he could to get his crippled machine on the ground.  Years of practice and training and a bit of luck kicked in and Liam O'Sullivan's field, just on the edge of Foynes looked like Dave's only chance. He pulled off what can only be described as an amazing landing; - one in a million pilots would have only had the slightest chance of walking away. Very few would have relished the prospect of landing a serviceable Skybolt in a 300m field... Dave's perfect landing using full power and every ounce of flying skill he possessed in an aircraft that was literally falling out of the sky caused not even a scratch to the aircraft.   

Immediately on the ground he radioed that he was OK; Eddie Goggins who was next to perform in the Extra, quickly found him and relayed his position and the good news to the display commentator... a huge cheer went up all around Foynes. They had witnessed one of the greatest escapes in Irish light aviation history... surely ranking up there with Neil Williams' famous escape in a Zlin when his wing folded.  

Fire crews and the ambulance sprang into action locating Dave and his aircraft within minutes... fortunately he was completely uninjured and only regretting leaving his phone behind on take-off for the display! The AAIU inspector Leo Murray's bank holiday weekend drew to a premature end and he was on the scene from Dublin in hours. Many members of the public had photos and recordings of the incident which they offered to help find the cause of what happened. The aircraft was dismantled and removed next day... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ZzPrUuE6A

The investigation continues.....    Well done Dave :-)