AirMed crash pilot lives to tell of lucky escape
An AirMed pilot who crashed in woodland near Oxford just before Christmas has described the routine flight that turned into a disaster which left him fighting for his life.
The crash left Tom Miller from Chipping Norton with multiple injuries, including a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a smashed elbow, broken hand, severe burns to his feet, cuts to his face, extensive bruising and hypothermia.
Tom believes he was flying at about 130 mph when he crashed in freezing fog. He was left lying about 10 metres down a steep slope near the burned-out wreckage of his twin-engine plane.
He said: “I was incredibly lucky. I came down and went through the wooded area without the fuselage hitting any trees – if it had, I would not be here.
“When the plane eventually came to a rest it was upside down and the whole fuselage where I was seated was destroyed by fire.
“Somehow I got out of it, but whether I was thrown out, fell out or my adrenaline made me get out, I don’t know. I’m just grateful to be here to tell my story.
The 52-year-old works for the Kidlington-based company AirMed and was hailed a hero after it was thought he had deliberately crashed in the woods to avoid hitting homes. He himself has lost all memory of the accident.
He thanked Oxford air traffic control, the crew of a passing JCB helicopter, the crew of the Solent Coastguard helicopter who found him, the emergency services, Oxford University’s estate workers and hospital staff.
He said: “I owe them my life. I was very unlucky to have the accident in the first place, but it seemed that everything that happened after that was designed to help me escape and be able to be here to tell the tale.”
Source: Oxford Mail