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Heroic failure: microlight pilot dies in Channel
In the spirit of Amelia Earhart, Martin Bromage set off in his microlight on an eight-week trip. But it lasted less than a day
In the long and noble tradition of men and women seeking to circumnavigate the world by air, none has fallen so tragically short of his target as the British tree surgeon Martin Bromage.
He set off yesterday morning from Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton in a microlight for the 11,000-mile round-the-world trip and did not even make it to France before he crashed into the English Channel five hours later.
His body was recovered last night by a Portuguese tug boat about 20 miles west of Le Touquet.
The coastguard at Dover have since revealed that Bromage made a series of calls to a French airfield as fog closed in. Seconds later he lost radio contact and crashed into the sea. A spokesman for the coastguard said: "His aircraft was very well equipped for all emergencies and carried a life-raft and life-jacket but sadly none of it seems to have helped him."
Bromage, 49, married with two sons, had set off on Monday morning with the sort of bravado displayed by countless solo fliers down the years, going back to Amelia Earhart, who herself disappeared on a round-the-world flight 72 years ago (though on that occasion she was accompanied by a navigator).
Aiming to raise £150,000 for the soldiers' charity Help for Heroes, he was expecting the trip to last eight weeks. "I have done a few adventurous trips in Europe in the microlight and I just thought to myself, why not push it that bit further?" he said.
"There is a real sense of freedom: you can feel the wind and smell the atmosphere. You can't do that in a plane."
Among his last words before he took off were: "I've always had an appetite for adventure and I relish a challenge."
A spokesman for the charity he was hoping to help said: "His willingness to try something extraordinary and help others at the same time made him a remarkable supporter.
"We would like to pay tribute to a wonderful man who will be missed by all who knew him." ·
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Poor man. Wish he'd made it both for himself and his family's sakes and for the Help for Heroes that he obviously felt so strongly about. Sad little story.
I fail to see how the 'critics' have either dissed Martin Bromage's reputation, or skewed the story at all. Its called reporting a story, deal with it.
I agree Arcturas. The critics on here have probably never done anything remotely risky in one minute of their boring, pedantic little lives.
I'll raise a glass to the lost adventurer anytime.
Please note that the voyage was Staverton to Sydney, Australia. There was never any mention of an around the World flight. The Earhart connection is a use of poetic license by the author of the piece and was never used by Martin or his crew in any way or form. His flight was solely to raise money for the 'Help for Heroes' charity and was his way of doing something special; out of the ordinary to raise awareness.
Microlight flying is a VFR neccesity but...when the weather comes down (in this case sea fog) and there is nowhere to land then to say this is irresponsible is down right mean. The Channel is notorious at the best of times but it has to be crossed to attempt any kind of long-distance flight.
It is a shame that some people are ready to diss the reputation of a brave, adventurous man who was also a great humanitarian, when he is not able to reply.
R.I.P. Martin, the world will be a much more boring place without you.
I admire the man for his ambition!
Mike,
The circumference of the Earth around the equator is approx. 24,900 miles. I doubt Mr. Bromage intended to fly all the way to the equator just so that he could go the longest distance around the planet. Assuming he was planning to circumnavigate at approx. 50 degrees latitude, he would need to travel nearly 16,000 miles. If the planned distance was, in fact, only 11,000 miles, he would need to travel at approx. 64 degrees latitude. This would make sense if he had been granted diplomatic clearance by the Russian government for overflight.
Sad story. Though the writer seems fixated on Earhart rather than say Wiley Post. The only clear connection here with her rather than him is the sadly failed attempt and death. But I doubt that anyone would claim that as the spirit of Amelia.
The true spirit Mr. Bromage flew with was the same for all the original fliers. That's why it is odd that the first person to achieve what Mr. Bromage was attempting is left out of the story.
Website says 'London to Sydney'
"He set off yesterday morning from Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton in a microlight for the 11,000-mile round-the-world trip and did not even make it to France before he crashed into the English Channel five hours later. "
He was doomed from the start. To circumnavigate the globe one must fly 25,000 miles.
Same old story...
Pilot continued under VFR rules in IFR conditions.