Plane taking jockeys to Goodwood makes emergency landing - 'Thank God we're in one piece'

A light aircraft carrying five jockeys to Glorious Goodwood had to execute an emergency landing following a terrifying incident. Rowan Scott, Callum Rodriguez, PJ McDonald, Tom Eaves and Jack Garritty had reserved a flight on a light aircraft to travel from Yorkshire to West Sussex on Thursday.

However, they were unable to complete their journey and forfeited their mounts on day four of the meeting after their aircraft experienced engine difficulties. Scott, 29, was scheduled for two rides, Magellan Cloud for John and Sean Quinn in the opening race at 1.20 and Naana's Sparkle for Alice Haynes in the 3.45. He told Mirror Racing that he and his four companions had climbed aboard the aircraft at Bagby Airfield near Thirsk.

"We are on a two-engine 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. The pilot was great. He kept his cool but we knew we were in a bit of bother."

Bagby to the Goodwood Estate, which boasts its own airstrip, is a 286-mile journey by road, which explains why jockeys stationed in the north frequently fly 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."

Scott's agent, Niall Hannity, said: "They set off from Bagby and something went wrong with the plane so they started to get a bit panicky, as you can imagine.

"The pilot, who has 25 years' experience, said nothing like it had ever happened to him but they were able to get turned round and land back at Bagby, which must have been frightening.

"The main thing is they got back down and they are all safe now. Rowan was sending me messages in the air asking me to let John Quinn and Alice Haynes know he wouldn't be able to ride their horses today and I was telling him not to worry about that in the grand scheme of things! It was Rowan's first time in a private plane. He said it's also his last."