Five jockeys on a small plane forced into dramatic landing after engine failure
They were all on their way to Goodwood flying from Bagby Airfield near Thirsk in North Yorkshire on a Piper PA-31 light aircraft when the pilot was forced to turn back this morning.
The names of those caught up in the chaos are Rowan Scott, Callum Rodriguez, PJ McDonald, Tom Eaves and Jack Garritty.
The jockeys were sending desperate messages to their agents apologising for not making the race even as the pilots were looking for somewhere to land.
As the aircraft flew over Uppingham, the left engine reportedly made a loud bang before shutting down completely.
During the failure, the propeller spinner detached, striking the aircraft's nose and leaving visible scratches and structural damage.
Scott's agent Niall Hannity said: 'They set off from Bagby and something went wrong with the plane so they started to get a bit panicky, as you can imagine.
'The pilot, who has 25 years' experience, said nothing like it had ever happened to him but they were able to get turned round and land back at Bagby, which must have been frightening.
'The main thing is they got back down and they are all safe now.
'Rowan was sending me messages in the air asking me to let John Quinn and Alice Haynes know he wouldn't be able to ride their horses today and I was telling him not to worry about that in the grand scheme of things!' More Trending
He added: 'It was Rowan's first time in a private plane – he said it's also his last.'
To make matters worse for Scott, Haynes' Naana's Sparkle (15-2) went and won the Buccellati Handicap under his substitute Charles Bishop.
Haynes said: 'Poor Rowan was upset he couldn't make it. He sounded quite shook up. Thank God they are all OK. I think the engine failed after they had gone 20 minutes.'
An investigation into the engine failure is expected to be carried out by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB)
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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