AIR in the fuel pipe has been blamed for an accident that caused a 53-year-old light aircraft to hit an electric fence at Headcorn Aerodrome.

The Piper PA-20 Pacer was aborting its first attempt to land at the airfield when it struck the fence and came to "an abrupt halt".

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation branch of the Department of Transport found that the 51-year-old pilot who was attempting to land at the airfield had more than 1,190 hours flying time under his belt and had spent 689 hours in this type of aircraft when the accident happened last July.

The pilot descended from 2,000ft on a straight approach, but side-slipped to the left before touching down normally and taxi-ing down the runway at what he described as a "reasonably high speed".

But, having reached a point approximately two-thirds of the way along the runway, he decided to fly another circuit. He opened the throttle and started to climb when the engine stopped at a height of about 50ft.

The pilot attempted to land in a small field beyond the runway, but the under-carriage caught in the fence, bringing the aircraft to rest within 10ft.

Neither the pilot nor his passenger was seriously injured and both were able to climb out of the aircraft unaided.

It is believed the cover to the fuel collector tank on the plane had become dislodged during the side-slip to the left, allowing air to be drawn into the system. When this reached the engine, it stalled.

More modern designs have a header tank fitted in the fuel lines that would have prevented the problem.