Paul Hollywood, 59, rushes to help pilot as plane ‘drops’ from sky during Bake Off star’s flying lesson
Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood rushed to the aid of a pilot who crash-landed his plane in Kent on Tuesday.
The 59-year-old television star was having a helicopter flying lesson when he responded to a mayday call from Manston Airport about an emergency landing.
Pilot Iain Stingmore, 58, had emerged from the wreckage with minor injuries after his plane’s canopy came off mid-flight, causing him to lose airspeed and plummet to the ground.
Hollywood successfully landed nearby and hurried to assist the stricken pilot.
Under his instructor’s guidance, Hollywood landed in a field near Thorne Hill, Minster, where Stingmore had crash-landed.
The incident occurred around midday when Stingmore was just a couple of hundred feet in the air shortly after taking off from Manston Airport.
“I lost all airspeed and just dropped,” Stingmore told the Mail Online. The pilot, who earned his licence two years ago, explained that his aircraft’s canopy had suddenly come off mid-flight.
“I couldn’t breathe or see anything,” he recalled, with only 15 seconds to react before impact.
Hollywood and his instructor were the first to respond to the emergency.
“I’d just climbed out of the plane after crash-landing and noticed someone walking over towards me,” Stingmore told MailOnline.
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“As he got closer, I realised who it was and thought to myself, ‘Oh god, it’s Paul Hollywood.'”
The Channel 4 star immediately asked if the pilot was ok. He remained with Stingmore for about half an hour, checking him over and ensuring he didn’t need medical assistance.
The Bake Off judge’s quick response proved vital in what could have been a far more serious incident.
Stingmore expressed his gratitude to the celebrity baker, describing him as a “great bloke”.
“He stayed with me for about half an hour checking over me and asking me if I needed anything. I was really grateful for that,” the pilot said.
He even managed to joke with Hollywood despite the circumstances, with the pilot sharing: “I even joked it was a shame he didn’t bring any cakes.”
The pilot credited his training for his survival, saying: “I was lucky I didn’t panic because it took a couple of seconds to register what happened.”
Despite the dramatic crash, Stingmore emerged relatively unscathed with only cuts to his leg and a bruised rib.
Five fire engines attended the scene after reports of an “emergency aircraft landing”.
The pilot later described his landing as “clean” with minimal damage to the aircraft.
However, Stingmore told KentOnline that his plane is beyond repair.
Undeterred by the harrowing experience, the gas engineer reportedly planned to return to the skies that same evening in a different aircraft.
The local community quickly rallied to assist, with people from around Manston hurrying to help.
Hollywood began learning to fly a helicopter in 2022 as an escape from the entertainment industry.
“It’s just you, a machine, and you’re away from all the madness,” he told The Times.
Last August, he celebrated flying solo on Instagram, writing: “Managed to fly solo!! Always wanted to learn. A big life tick!”
The television star, who lives in a £1 million mansion in Ashford, recently purchased a £500,000 helicopter.
His new hobby has reportedly drawn complaints from Kent neighbours due to noise from flying lessons.