http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Singapore/STIStory_172067.html
Oct 30, 2007
Selatar runway shut for 2 hours due to training
mishap
By Karamjit Kaur and Tracy Sua
A TEENAGE trainee pilot ran his aircraft off a Seletar Airport
runway during a practice session on Tuesday morning.
The 17-year-old Nanyang Junior College student was not hurt.
Nor was the aircraft he was learning to fly damaged.
But the incident caused the runway at the airport, which is now
largely used for private jets, to be closed for about two
hours.
The trainee was practising take-offs and landings in a
single-engine propeller aircraft called the PA28 Piper Warrior when
the accident happened at around 9.30am.
The trainee pilot was landing a solo practice flight when the plane
ran off the runway.
It finally came to a stop on a grass patch off the tarmac.
General manager of the Singapore Youth Flying Club Colonel (NS)
Andy Tan said that this was the first accident in the flying
school's 36-year history.
He said the teen had been training for over seven months of a
one-year programme and was aiming for his private pilot
licence.
With over 30 hours clocked flying, the student was considered
'senior', he added.
'We will be counselling him through it. When a student encounters
problems the important thing is to build up his confidence level
and get him to fly with an instructor as soon as possible,' he
said.
'We have been accident-free for the last 36 years and we want to
reassure parents that we take the students' safety seriously and
the students are well-trained by ex-air force pilots.'
The first-year Nanyang Junior College student had been balancing
flight training with preparations for his GCE A-level oral exams
which takes place within the next few days.
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Ministry of Transport
investigators spoke to him at the scene.
The authority said the runway was closed so the plane could be
removed and normal operations resumed immediately after.