French pilots were at a loss to understand why Mr Bromage decided to fly the Channel yesterday when northwest France was covered in low cloud and mist, with fog forecast.
Larger aircraft than fragile microlights were grounded around the area when the fog set in.
Microlights are not permitted to fly in cloud or fog because they are piloted visually. They are not usually equipped with instruments for blind flying as is normal for larger aircraft. Without visual reference points outside the aircraft, visual-only pilots become very quickly disoriented and lose control of the plane.
French traffic controllers said that Mr Bromage changed destination repeatedly as he headed towards the French coast in the hope of finding an airfield free of fog.
His initial destination was Le Touquet, a popular aerodrome on the coast opposite Sussex, but he diverted inland towards Abbeville, on the Somme, before apparently reversing course back to England.
Advertisement
His planned route took him from the Kent coast, just east of Hastings, direct to Le Touquet, a 40-mile crossing that should have taken under half an hour in acceptable weather. It seems likely, however, that he became disoriented in the fog and lost his bearings – something that is easy to do in a light aircraft even with modern satellite navigation.
Mr Bromage would have been in contact with air traffic control throughout the crossing because all cross-Channel flights are carried out under radar control. Aircraft are handed over mid-Channel from London area to Lille area controllers, who all speak English.
His aircraft, a P&M Aviation QuikR, was the simplest type of classical microlight, an open “trike” that is suspended below a delta wing.
The pilot controls it by pushing and pulling a bar that shifts the weight of the trike under the wing.
It was a reliable, fast model with a 100hp Rotax engine that could cruise at nearly 100mph. Such craft are rugged and simple and enjoyed by people who want open-air, rudimentary flying rather than the more comfortable and modern microlights that resemble classical light aircraft, with closed cockpits and rigid wings.
Advertisement
Short Channel flights by weight-shift craft like Mr Bromage’s are fairly routine, but require careful planning to take account of visibility and wind, to which they are vulnerable because of their light weight – up to a maximum of 450kg – and low power.
Veteran pilots said that crossing the Channel in mid-winter with a maximum-loaded weight-shift microlight in poor weather would be taking a considerable risk.
A few such microlights have managed to fly to Australia, following land and hopping for up to a few hundred miles at a time over water. But the trip remains extremely difficult, requiring meticulous planning and back-up.
Charles Bremner, Paris Correspondent for The Times, has been a qualified pilot for 25 years