A LONE pilot who abandoned his controls to rescue a stricken parachutist has been hailed by military chiefs for his bravery.
The dramatic incident took place at 3,000ft above a British forces parachute base at Bad Lippspringe, Germany.
Six British soldiers took off in the twin-engined Islander for a military competition on Thursday. The first five jumped successfully, b
ut the sixth, an instructor, got into trouble when his chute partially opened and its rigging became caught in the undercarriage.
One soldier, who saw the incident from the ground, said: "We were watching the plane when I noticed there was a man dangling upside down by some sort of cable. They must have been flying at about 140mph.
"We saw it for about 50 seconds and the plane seemed to be descending so we assumed the pilot had to land with the man still underneath. We heard the emergency services shortly afterwards and assumed the worst."
In fact the British pilot – who could see the instructor waving at him frantically – was about to level the plane so it was flying in a straight line. Then he leaned dangerously from the hatch to free him.
The modest flier, a former soldier based at the centre near Paderborn, has asked for his identity to be kept secret. He insisted he was only doing his job and any other pilot would have done the same.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The pilot showed significant bravery and skill. We are unaware of a rescue like this happening before."
It is thought that there was a technical malfunction which caused the chute to partially deploy.
The full article contains 281 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
