Pilot makes forced landing in vineyard

A Languedoc vineyard became an emergency landing strip when a light aircraft had to make a forced landing after a mechanical problem.

After the forced landing | Photo © Isabelle Jupin, Midi Libre

The pilot and his three passengers escaped unharmed when the plane came down in the muscat vineyard near Frontignan in the Hérault on Sunday night. Only around thirty vines were damaged in the landing, and harvest is expected to continue as normal at the end of the month.

Speaking to ‘La Vigne’, the pilot, called Lionel, an instructor at the local flying club, said: “I really had no choice as to where I landed. On one side there were houses, on the other there were vines. I chose the vines.”

The vineyard owner, Bernard Rebois, said that because no one was hurt, he was viewing the incident with good humour. “Our vines don’t have stakes and trellising like a lot of others in this area. However, the parcel next to it does, so the pilot was lucky.”

Monsieur Rebois confirmed that this was in fact the second time a plane had come down in this vineyard during his lifetime.

There are no plans to create a special ‘Cuvée Avion’ from this year’s harvest.