Plane lands on village football pitch

A SMALL single-engine aircraft was yesterday forced to land in a Larnaca district village football pitch, police said.

The incident occurred in the small refugee community of Mari at around 10.30am.

During the emergency landing, the 36-year-old South African Cypriot professional pilot hit the plane’s left wing on a leaf sweeper, knocking a piece off.

Andreas Christou had taken off from Larnaca airport and was flying over the livestock farming district of Mari.

Police arrived on the scene to investigate the cause of the emergency landing and to take measures regarding a possible fuel leakage, sealing off the entire football pitch.

The emergency landing was just 100 metres from the last house in the community.