28 August 2015
Martin Ferid has successfully taken off from Plymouth Airport in his Jodel 120. The #FreeTheJodel campaign succeeded in not only getting Martin’s plane released by the closed airport’s security team, but also an agreement by leaseholders Sutton Harbour Holdings (SHH) to revise its way of dealing with emergency landings in the future.
Martin landed at Plymouth Airport after running into bad weather returning from Bodmin, Cornwall to his home airfield of Farthing Corner, Kent. On landing he was told by security guards it would be OK to leave the aircraft for a couple of days until the weather improved.
However, during that time SHH contacted him to say the aircraft would have to be removed by road, which meant dismantling it. They also claimed legal expenses and wanted to impose a press blackout.
A campaign was launched on social media, using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to put pressure on SHH to behave more reasonably. Eventually a deal was brokered, the aircraft was inspected and given a clean bill of health, insurance was checked, and SHH chairman Graham Miller assured Martin that no costs whatsoever would be levied. Mr Miller also promised SHH would examine its protocols to deal better with emergency landings in the future, while making the point that the airport was closed.
Photo: Patrick Daly, Plymouth Herald https://twitter.com/thepatrickdaly
