A PILOT has spoken of his lucky escape after he was forced to land his light aircraft in a Merseyside field in thick fog.
Tom Pemberton had planned to touch down on the runway at Hawarden airport after a day’s flying on Sunday, but was unable to land before freezing fog took hold and closed the airfield.
The 55-year-old, who was with wife Christine, on board the couple’s own airplane, was unable to redirect and had to land the aircraft in a farmer’s field.
Tom, from Capenhurst, South Wirral, said: “We were even unable to get to Caernarfon airfield because I do not have a night rating, and we could not have got there before darkness fell.
“We had plenty of fuel but were unable to land anywhere in the local area either, because both Liverpool and Manchester airports were fogbound.
“Both were reporting levels of fog at about 150 feet and had to close.
“It’s part of your training as a pilot to always be on the look-out for safe places to land in an emergency.
