A GLIDING society has been left counting the cost after a light aircraft was completely destroyed by fire. The plane - thought to be worth around £50,000 - was towing a glider along Lasham airfield on Sunday afternoon when ground staff noticed smoke coming from underneath it. The quick-thinking pilot aborted the flight, releasing the glider, and stopped at the end of the runway before jumping out of the blazing plane. Firefighters from Alton and Odiham rushed to the airfield at around 2-30 pm and used a large foam extinguisher to smoulder the flames in the fuel tank and engine. Both the pilot in the light aircraft and the glider pilot escaped unhurt.
