May 12 2007
Interesting report from the UK - "A 30cm (1ft) square block (of concrete) was seen breaking loose from a light
aircraft and smashing into a tennis court - no one was injured"
"Contractors sitting in a van in the car park heard a thump and saw grass being thrown into the air" -
experts later said it was one of a pair of tie-down blocks used to secure light aircraft at Newcastle upon Tyne Airport
It is thought to have come from a Piper Cherokee aircraft which left the airport at 9.20am
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Around 20 years ago an Archerfield based Piper Cherokee 6 PA-32/300 hp model - was secured by tie-down chains
and star pickets hammered into the ground (standard procedure) - there had been a lot of rain at the time and the grass areas were unserviceable due
"soft wet surface"
The LAME pilot carried out a pre-flight inspection of the PA-32 then taxied out and took-off - it was not until the machine was airborne that a
rear seat passenger observed a chain with a star picket attached flicking up over the trailing edge of the wing - the pilot was advised and
landed shortly after
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