A veteran pilot died of a heart attack after crash landing in a light aircraft he had built himself more than 50 years ago.
Chris Lodge, 82, who had more than 1,500 flying hours under his belt, was declared dead at the scene in his Taylor Monoplane after it veered off the grass and ‘nosed over’ at Nayland Airfield, near Sudbury, Suffolk.
A report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch found the right shock absorber on the main landing gear may have caused the accident as it had seized.
Civil Aviation Authority records show Mr Lodge – a popular figure in the aviation world where he was known for making wooden propellers for small turboprop planes – built the single-seater aircraft as an amateur aviator in 1973.
It was powered by a 1,600CC VW engine and painted green with black and white stripes on its wings and fuselage to resemble a WWII plane.
Speaking from her home in Broomfield, near Chelmsford, Essex, shortly after the accident, Mr Lodge’s wife, Gillian, told the Mail: ‘I would prefer not to talk about it.’
Tributes paid to him on social media included a post from a Facebook user who stated: ‘So sad. Great bloke and well respected’.
Another comment described him as a ‘well-known pilot’.
Chris Lodge, 82, died from a heart attack the Air Accident Investigation Branch said ‘likely occurred’ after the crash landing
The accident happened on June 17 last year after Mr Lodge had taken off from Retreat Farm, also known as Little Baddow Airfield in Essex, at 9.22am.
Just over ten minutes later he touched down at the mid-point of Nayland Airfield’s runway and the plane swerved to the left, ending up in long grass.
Mr Lodge was found unresponsive in the cockpit by a club pilot at 10.15am and emergency services, including Suffolk Police, were called to the scene but found he was already dead. No one else was on board.
The wreckage of the plane, which had a broken canopy and damage to its propeller, was taken away on a flat-bed lorry for an inspection.
The AAIB said in its report that the cylinder housing and cylinder of the main right landing gear shock absorber was bent.
This would have been caused by a ‘historic event’, causing ‘reduced ability’ for the cylinder to operate correctly, ‘resulting in an imbalance’ between the landing gear assemblies.
The report added: ‘This may have contributed to the aircraft veering to the left during landing.
‘The condition of the right leg cylinder’s outer surface in comparison to the left indicates it may have had restricted compression for some time…
Mr Lodge had built the single-seater Taylor Monoplane as an amateur aviator in 1973
‘The aircraft had travelled approximately 30m through long grass to the left of the runway, before nosing over.’
It added: ‘The pilot sustained a fatal hear attack, which the investigation concluded likely occurred after the landing.’
Mr Lodge had been flying at an altitude of just 200ft between Tiptree and Kelvedon, on his way to Nayland Airfield, although previous flight data showed this was not unusual as he had taken similar routes and altitudes between the airfields before.
Sources added he was ‘very familiar’ with the airfield, having flown in and out of it ‘countless times’.
The airfield in the Stour Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has existed at Hill Farm since 1962 and is known for its sometimes challenging landing strip on a steep hill.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said after the accident: ‘Suffolk Police were called at 11.30am on Tuesday to reports that a light aircraft had crashed at Nayland Airfield, off Campions Hill.
‘Ambulance and fire crews were also in attendance, but the pilot – a man aged in his 80s – was declared deceased at the scene.
‘Yesterday, police officers met with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch at the scene and a parallel investigation will continue into the circumstances of the crash. A file is also being prepared for the coroner.’
He was found unresponsive in the cockpit of his plane at Nayland Airfield, near Sudbury, Suffolk, pictured, and was declared dead at the scene when emergency services arrived
A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service said it was called at 11:25am on Tuesday and sent the Essex and Herts air ambulance as well as a land ambulance, three ambulance officer vehicles and its Hazardous Area Response Team.
Other comments on Facebook including one that said: ‘Awful news but at least he was doing what he loved.’
Another user wrote: ‘It’s always been a difficult airfield to land due to the gradient, sad indeed and condolences to the family.’