Plane flying jockeys to Glorious Goodwood forced to make emergency landing

A plane flying five jockeys to the Glorious Goodwood meeting was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing in a dramatic incident on Thursday.

Rowan Scott, Callum Rodriguez, PJ McDonald, Tom Eaves and Jack Garritty had booked a flight in a light aircraft to make the journey from Yorkshire to West Sussex. But they were unable to complete the trip and will miss their rides on day four of the prestigious fixture after their plane encountered engine trouble.

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Scott, 29, was booked on two rides at Goodwood, Magellan Cloud for John and Sean Quinn in the first race at 1.20 and Naana’s Sparkle for Alice Haynes in the 3.45.

He told Mirror Racing that he and his four colleagues had boarded the plane at Bagby Airfield near Thirsk.

"We are on a two engined plane and one of the engines failed," he said. "We weren't exactly calm at the time. We panicked a bit!

"There was a big bang when one of the engines failed. The pilot said straight away that he needed to bring it down so we turned round and flew back to Bagby.

"He brought the plane down but as we were coming down there was another bang. Something had flown off the engine and hit the side of the plane."

He continued: "The pilot was great. He kept his cool but we knew we were in a bit of bother."

Bagby to the Goodwood Estate, which has its own airfield, is a 286 mile trip by road which is why jockeys based in the north regularly flying to the meeting.

Scott said: "I would say we were a good half hour into the flight, possibly halfway there. If we had been in real bother the pilot would have brought the plane down at the nearest airstrip but he turned round.

"We were already on edge when we heard the second bang, as we were approaching Bagby. Thank God we are in one piece.

"Jockeys often fly down from there. I hadn't before and I don't thinking I will be rushing to do it again. We were all a bit shook up.. The pilot wasn't best pleased with the situation we were in but he was keeping his cool."