THE RAF cadet whose light aircraft ploughed into a fence after missing the runway during a landing at Dundee Airport spoke yesterday of his delight at completing his first solo flight.

The week started badly for cadet Mike Corns when on Monday the two-seater Grob115D plane he was training in was badly damaged in an accident.

The 19-year-old was flying circuits, involving take-off and landing practice, with instructor Dan Scott when their aircraft went off course on a landing approach and ended up smashing into the airport’s perimeter fence.

The plane, owned by Tayside Aviation, suffered extensive damage to its undercarriage, fuselage and a wing but neither of the men involved in the crash was injured.

Initial reports had suggested there might have been a technical fault with the wing flaps on the aircraft but an inspection by engineers following the incident did not reveal a mechanical problem.

Despite the mishap cadet Corns was taken flying immediately after the episode to make sure his confidence was not dented—and has now turned his week around by flying solo for the first time.

Speaking yesterday he told of the “nerve-wracking experience” of climbing back into the cockpit after the crash and his relief at successfully completing the rest of his course with Tayside Aviation.

“On the morning of the accident I had already completed a couple of circuits without any problem but when I came in to land again I felt that the controls were not quite responding properly.

“My instructor decided to take over the controls and land on the grass to try to prevent the plane from being damaged but we ended up veering into the fence.

“It all happened very quickly and was pretty scary, but I didn’t have much time to think about it because I was sent up in another aircraft to make sure I wasn’t put off.

“It was really nerve-wracking going back up again so soon but I just had to get on with it and concentrate on what I was doing.”

Mike, who is from Walsall, near Birmingham, is training in Dundee as part of the RAF flying scholarship that is run exclusively in Dundee by Tayside Aviation.

Mike has now flown just over 10 hours out of the 12 required to pass the course and is set to finish up today after another flight.

“I’ll be in the air again tomorrow and hopefully get to fly some more solos, hopefully without anything too exciting happening!”

Mike hopes to become a pilot with the RAF but will return to Nottingham tomorrow to complete his chemistry degree at the city’s university.