A light aircraft crash landed after the pilot attempted to avoid a horse on the runway, an accident report reveals.

The pilot and passenger were lucky to escape injury after the Cessna overturned when it hit farm gates following an aborted landing at the private airstrip at Mount Rule, Braddan.

Both managed to get out of the aircraft before the emergency services arrived.

An Air Accident Investigation Branch report into the incident on March 13 this year has now been published.

Cessna registration M-GOLF had flown in from Ronaldsway where the aircraft was based.

Its pilot, aged 75 and with 600 hours of flying experience, had not landed at the Mount Rule airstrip before, but the passenger had landed there many times.

The takeoff appeared normal and there were no technical issues noted with the aircraft while en route.

On arrival, the pilot flew three circuits, with one at low level, in order to familiarise himself with the airstrip before positioning to land on the grass runway.

But as the aircraft touched down at about 2.50pm, the pilot saw a horse appear near the end of the runway.

He almost immediately initiated an aborted landing but despite applying full power, the aircraft did not accelerate as expected.

As M-GOLF approached the end of the runway it started to become airborne but then hit the farm gates.

overturned

It subsequently touched down in the adjacent field where it overturned and was damaged beyond economic repair.

The pilot told investigators that when he initially saw the horse, it was not clear to him if it was within the boundary of the airstrip.

After the accident, he confirmed that the horse had been in the field beyond the end of the runway and behind the closed farm gates that the aircraft subsequently hit.

The pilot said he believed the aircraft did not accelerate and climb as expected because of a possible loss of engine power or malfunction with the constant speed propeller.

A witness standing next to the runway recorded video footage of the aircraft as it landed. It showed that the Cessna touching down about halfway along the runway.