Three men have lucky escape

Three men escaped with minor injuries when the light plane in which they were flying had to make a forced landing in the grounds of the power station which Gesa, the gas and electricity board, has in the Polígono de Can Valero in Palma, according to fire brigade sources. All three men had a lucky escape from an accident which could have left up to a quarter of the city without electricity. The plane, which belonged to Aerotec, was on an instruction flight from Madrid. Its occupants were the pilot and instructor, Guillermo Rigo, aged 25, and learner pilots José Manuel Cantó, aged 21, and Juan Miguel Palau, aged 28. The pilot had to make what was described as “a difficult and amazing manoeuvre” in order to bring the plane down without touching the electricity cables at Es Rafal, after the engine failed, sources at the scene said. The accident occurred shortly before 8pm and all three men were admitted to the Clinica Rotger with various injuries, none of them serious. José Antonio Far, the head of the Palma fire brigade, said that the pilot “made a very skilful landing” in order to come down in the small space available.