A couple is lucky to be alive after surviving separate plane crashes on the same day.
Stefano Pirilli, 30, escaped unhurt in his smash, while his fiancé Antonietta Demasi, a 22-year-old student, was only slightly hurt when her aircraft crashed.
It was gathered that the couple decided to take separate light aeroplanes on a lunch date with friends near the northern Italian city of Turin on Sunday.
According to Mail Online, Stefano’s two-seater Tecnam P92 Echo Super came down at San Gillio after getting into difficulties, while his student partner’s plane crashed 25 miles away at Busano a short while later.
Firefighters raced to both scenes and the couple were both cut from the wreckage of their respective planes and taken to the hospital, along with the pilots of each one.
The group had flown to enjoy a meal at a hilltop farmhouse, and it was Antonietta’s first time on a plane.
Doctors said Antonietta suffered pelvic injuries while the pilot of her plane, Paolo Rotondo, 38, was treated for a head wound.
Energy consultant Stefano, who was flying in a two-seater plane, was unscathed, while his friend and pilot, Nicola Fiscarelli, 42, was said to only have suffered slight injuries.
Stefano said: ‘This was Antonietta’s first flying experience and I’m so sorry for what happened. The day had started so beautifully, and it ended up with us both crashing in separate planes.
‘We are fortunate that we weren’t killed, and our thoughts are with the pilots who were injured. I just want my girlfriend and the pilot to get better; nothing else matters.
‘Sunday was a perfect day for flying blue skies, sunshine and not a cloud, it was the perfect way to have some fun in the air.’
Stefano described how both planes had taken off from an airfield near Turin and then headed for Asti, where the group had lunch at a hilltop farmhouse.
After finishing their meal, the group took off again and headed out towards Savona on the west coast to catch a glimpse of the sea in the winter sunshine.
Stefano said: ‘We fell foul of the weather and the time—the mist started to come up as the temperature dropped and then all of a sudden it was night.
‘We decided to try and land at Busano and I called Antonietta and told her and the pilot of her plane said he would land at the airfield near San Gillio.
‘As we headed to the airstrip, we were just enveloped in mist and darkness, and we knew there were electricity cables around but before we knew it we had crashed onto the ground and into a meadow.
