In surprising scenes, a light aircraft had to land on the west side of Cumbrae on Monday afternoon to the bemusement of locals.

The light aircraft had to perform an 'precautionary' landing.

The plane was forced to land after weather conditions worsened at 3pm. 

It was flying from Edinburgh with two German people on board. 

The police closed off the B896 to allow the plane to take off after the pilot and his companion were given some coffee by the nearby Fintry Bay Cafe. 

Bill Steele, owner of the Fintry Bay Cafe, said; “It was torrential rain and our phone lines went down; the weather was atrocious.
“The next thing, a guy in a van passed by and told me that an aeroplane had been forced to land on Cumbrae. We immediately headed up to see and there were two guys who had got off the plane, and both were frozen, and we gave them a cup of coffee.
“There was a fair old turnout to see it. There are a couple of wee bends in the road, and then a straight area, and that was where the plane landed. They stopped the first attempt to take off when the police arrived on the scene, and then the police blocked off more of the road, and it took off in no time at all, and we watched it head over to Bute. The rain had stopped and there was a bit of brightness.”


Mum Victoria Tait was also on the scene shortly after the plane had touched down on the coastal road.
She said: “I had headed out with my family including husband Graham, and children Sophie and Charlie. My own father Graham was also there. It had been an awful day and the kids had been cooped up in the house so we decided to head out for a drive around the island. We couldn’t believe it when we saw the plane.
“One was the pilot and the other was his friend. There was a heater on the plane, but when they got out, there was a very heavy shower and they were soaked, and they were waiting for the weather to clear. "

"It was a tiny wee plane and it seemed to take off with the strength of the wind, it didn’t need much at all. It was a great day out, and Charlie enjoyed it immensely.”

Island cop Michael Emans said: “I nearly fell off the chair when I got the call.”
There was praise for the pilot’s actions in safely landing the plane on the road. 

Largs and Millport Weekly News:
Graham Tait said: “We were first on scene and the pilot was calm, just waiting for the torrential rain to stop. The plane is clearly capable of very short take of landing, especially with the headwind here today. We could see him land on Bute five minutes after take off.”
Aviation enthusiast Jean-Marie Urlacher commented: “Technically its not an emergency landing but precautionary landing. Well done to the pilot, very good decision and safe reaction. It s very common in Alaska and Canada.”