Safety measures have been improved at Rochester Airport following an investigation into a crash.

The accident took place six days after the 76-year-old pilot had a minor operation to have a cataract removed.

He asked a qualified flight instructor (FI) to act as his “safety pilot” during the flight on December 7, 2016.

Just before 1.30pm, the aircraft’s right wheel hit and destroyed an airfield light, severely cracking the plane and damaging the brake.

Nobody was injured in the crash.

The pilot said the accident was due to a “breakdown in communication” and “inappropriate aircraft handling” by the FI during the landing approach.

Before the flight, the FI had met with the airfield’s duty Flight Information Service Officer, and was told the right of a runway would be used for landing.

But the pilot had not been told and was prepared to land on the left when the FI took control of the plane, causing it to crash into the light.

An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that before the flight the pilot and FI had “not appropriately briefed and agreed their roles and procedures”.

The report also found that as the FI did not sign for the aircraft as pilot-in-command, he was a passenger and “should not have tried to perform instructional duties”.

To clarify the term ‘Safety Pilot’, the Civil Aviation Authority will now publish an article in its magazine, Clued Up, and it will ask the General Aviation Safety Council to publish the same article in its Flight Safety Bulletin.

After the investigation, safety action was taken at Rochester Airport to make sure that pilots are informed exactly which runways are in use when they call the radio.

The airport is about to get a much-needed £4 million facelift.

The plans include doing away with one runway, concreting the other, building two new hangars and creating a new hub housing the control tower, an office block and flying club.