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Pilot flies private plane to Wales and lands at closed RAF base so he can ‘go to the beach’

Getty
Getty

A man flew a private jet from Surrey to Wales and landed at a closed RAF base so he could “go to the beach”.

Flight tracking data published by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shows the plane took off from Fairoaks Airfield in Surrey and landed at RAF Valley in Anglesey on 25 May.

But RAF Valley was closed for the spring bank holiday while repair work was being carried out at the site.

The pilot attempted to call air traffic control several times during his approach but received no response, according to the MoD report.

Despite this, he proceeded with landing the plane and touched down on Runway 19 which was closed for maintenance.

RAF Valley fire crew said it attended the scene as an emergency, assuming the plane had got into difficulties in flight.

Military police then visited the pilot in an attempt to determine what had happened.

The pilot reportedly told officers that he had flown to Wales “to go to the beach”.

When the pilot was informed about the restrictions in place in Wales due to the ongoing pandemic, he reportedly told them that “it was OK as he had it [Covid-19] two months ago”.

A spokesperson for North Wales Police said: “We were contacted by colleagues from RAF Valley at 1.04 pm on Monday 25 May, reporting that a light aircraft had made an unauthorised landing at the airbase.

“The pilot was dealt with by military police.

“While the incident is primarily being investigated by the RAF and Civil Aviation Authority, North Wales Police are currently considering potential breaches of the Covid legislation in Wales.”

RAF Valley is also home to Anglesey airport, which sees daily commercial flights to Cardiff airport but has a strict system in place for the landing of private planes.

Pilots need to request permission before landing at the base.

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