Two-time missing pilot Maurice Kirk found again in Africa rally

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-38116281

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A 72-year-old British pilot, who went missing for a second time while attempting to fly a 1940s plane the length of Africa, has been found.

Maurice Kirk, who lives in Bristol, was part of a vintage air rally flying from Crete to Cape Town.

He was reported missing for the second time on Friday after taking off from Ethiopia.

His plane suffered engine failure but he managed to land safely, rally organisers said.

Mr Kirk went missing on Monday between Sudan and Ethiopia but was later found alive.

The pilot, who also has links to Taunton in Somerset and the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, went missing for a second time when he failed to reach Kenya.

Vintage Air Rally organisers said his 1943 Piper Cub suffered engine failure but managed to land safely in South Sudan.

A post on the rally's Facebook page said: "Maurice is safe! We heard he had an engine failure and landed (not at an airfield) in South Sudan but had a puncture on landing.

"He's fine, we think the plane also."

Previously rally organisers said Mr Kirk had been asked to withdraw from the rally due to a "mismatch in expectations" and was no longer officially part of it, but he had decided to continue to fly.

They said they would continue to help him until he reaches Kenya.

The rally describes itself as "following in the footsteps of the pioneering flights in the 1920s" connecting "some of the most beautiful and evocative points in Africa".