ARGUS feature Mike Buckingham had a miracle escape yesterday when the plane he was piloting crashed into the highest peak in South Wales.

Columnist Mr Buckingham was flying the plane he shares with a South Wales flying syndicate when he hit bad weather over the Brecon Beacons.

When he attempted to gain altitude after turning around he crashed into the side of the 2905ft high Pen y Fan mountain in the Brecon Beacons at 11.45am.

His plane ended up upside down but Mr Buckingham, remaining conscious and with the help of nearby walkers, crawled out to safety.

His wife Heather said that, despite being shaken up, the writer had no broken bones and only bruising and pulled muscles. He was the only person aboard.

Mr Buckingham’s journey began in Swansea at 10.45am, from where he was planning to pilot the plane for a service in Sleap, Shropshire.

“Basically I flew into bad weather and went to retrace my steps,” he said. “I had turned around, I firewalled the throttle but couldn’t get any response.

“A few seconds after that the aeroplane hit the mountain.

“I imagined the last thing I would ever see was a Welsh mountain side. The world went upside down, and when I came to a rest I found myself hanging by my harness.”

He said he didn’t know how long it was before he heard a voice outside the plane, and then saw an army boot, belonging to a soldier who smashed one of the plane’s perspex windows allowing Mr Buckingham to escape.

Our feature writer crawled to safety from the craft, a PA-38 Tomohawk which Mr Buckingham said was a write-off.

Another walking party from Oxford, which by a stroke of luck included two doctors including an A&E specialist, then came to check on the pilot.

Establishing he had not broken any bones, Mr Buckingham was walked down the mountain side through blizzard conditions by the group to their car, and was then driven to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. He was able to return with his wife to his Cross Keys home by the evening.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Mrs Buckingham, who thanked the walking party for their help. “It’s a miracle survival isn’t it? There are so many planes that have crashed up there with fatalities.”