A LIGHT aircraft pilot was caught out by his own anti-vandal precautions as he landed at his farm strip in Oxfordshire, according to an official report.

As 63-year-old Robert James Stobo piloted his 1952 built Auster Autocrat into land on his strip at Oaklands Farm, Stonesfield, the Air Accident Investigation Branch report says his attention was momentarily distracted by a runner who was running round the edge of the field.

It says partly as a result of that Mr Stobo says he forgot about the wooden electricity pole he had put across the beginning of the airstrip to prevent vandals getting on to the strip and using it as a skid pan for their cars.

As his plane came in, at about 7pm on 22 April this year one of the wheels hit the pole bending the wheel under the plane. The wing tip then touched the ground and slewed the plane round into an adjacent field.

Although Mr Stobo, who has more than 1,000 hours flying experience, and his passenger were unhurt, the plane was left with damage to its landing gear, wing tip and propeller.