 His skill as a pilot enabled him to survive several in-flight failures of prototype aircraft, including that of the prototype Dart Herald, which he was able to crash-land after a catastrophic engine fire en route to the Farnborough Airshow on 10 August 1958.With his wife and seven other passengers on board, he belly-landed the airliner in a small field, getting over trees, under some power lines, and avoiding a farm roller parked in the field.The aircraft was a total loss, but there were no deaths or serious injuries, as all on board escaped through a hole torn in the aircraft by a concealed tree stump.