Stay up to date with notifications from TheĀ Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Light aircraft makes emergency landing on A40 in Gloucestershire

No-one was hurt and no other vehicles were involved, police said.

Lucas Cumiskey
Thursday 10 August 2023 15:57 EDT
Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter account @whothehellispoe of a light aircraft on the A40 (Who The Hell Is Vesper/Twitter/PA)
Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter account @whothehellispoe of a light aircraft on the A40 (Who The Hell Is Vesper/Twitter/PA) (PA Media)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A light aircraft has made an emergency landing on a busy road in Gloucestershire.

The plane was forced to land on the A40 Golden Valley, near Cheltenham, at about 6pm on Thursday.

Emergency services were on the scene and Gloucestershire Constabulary said no-one was injured.

A spokesperson for the force said: ā€œWe were called shortly before 6pm today with a report a light aircraft had landed on the A40 Golden Valley.

ā€œNo-one was injured and it is understood that no other vehicles were involved.

ā€œWe remain at the scene while work takes place to reopen the road.ā€

Vesper Gray Smith, 17, said he was on a bus from Gloucester to Cheltenham when he saw the plane in the road and took photos of it.

He said: ā€œI saw some fire engines going across a bridge near the site to go to the scene of the accident.

ā€œThere was police talking to witnesses and the pilot.

ā€œRight as I went past the scene the road was shut off behind me.

ā€œI didnā€™t see the plane land, but the photos were probably taken a few minutes after it did.

ā€œI felt pretty surprised, as itā€™s really not something that happens often.

ā€œI think everyone else on the bus was quite surprised as well.

ā€œOne of the first things I thought about the incident is if everyone is alright, and luckily they were.ā€

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in