Pilot returns to Bridgnorth site of crop spraying crash

John Hoyte was unhurt in the crash but wanted to track down the site

A pilot who crashed his plane while crop-spraying has returned to the scene of the crash after 40 years.

John Hoyte was unhurt when his plane came down while he was working near Bridgnorth in Shropshire on 1 June 1982.

Using his logbooks and maps he was able to find and return to the site in Glazeley.

He was also reunited with horse trainer William Jenks, the field's owner, who remembered coming across the wreckage.

Mr Hoyte said he had learned to fly in Norfolk and worked in Gloucestershire but had always wanted to crop-spray as it was a "challenging" and "exciting" job.

On the day of the crash, he said, he had been flying a D-model Pawnee plane which carried its fuel in its wing tanks, and has an electronic system to determine how much fuel is being carried.

He said a red light would usually come on to let the pilot know when the fuel supplies were running low, but was flying at around 200 or 250ft (60 to 76ft) when the engine had suddenly stopped.

He said he crash-landed "very firmly" into the field "taking the undercarriage off and the spraying equipment".

Mr Hoyte still has his logbooks from his time as a pilot

When they checked the plane it was showing no fuel.

Returning to the site he said it "looked different" to how he remembered, but was "delighted" to "relive" the incident, having thought about it many times since.

Horse trainer William Jenks, the owner of the field, recalled his shock at the time of the crash.

"It was a mess in here...I thought oh my god," Mr Jenks said.

"I think we were all so relieved that [Mr Hoyte was] okay, it wasn't a matter of how much mess it made, it was a matter of you being alright."