PLANE SHOCK

A BIZARRE accident left a man dead when he was struck by a model aeroplane in Lliria.

Jose Antonio Lloret was walking across the model plane runway run by the Ala RC Club just as the plane landed.

The plane being flown by a licensed pilot struck him on the head and killed him 'instantly'. Model aircraft can reach speeds of between 80 and 200 kilometres per hour and weigh up to 20 kilos.

of all this, gains more strength for us every day," Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro said.

But Sebastien Destremau, captain of The Lancelot, which was attacked two weeks ago, dismissed the claims.

“Having witnessed it, it's so easy for these beasts to sink us if they want to,” he insisted after 20 of the behemoths swarmed his fragile ship.

“If they were out for revenge, I think I would have been swimming home.”

Instead, he suspects the orcas may have been engaging in play or training their young to hunt, as yacht rudders resemble the fins of their primary prey - fellow whales.

“They could crush the boat in a heartbeat if they wanted to,” added Destremau.

“But they were not aggressive. They were just coming in very gently, placing their nose wherever they wanted to place it, and pushing hard.”

The real danger, he emphasises, is to the killer whales themselves.

“I am very concerned about the near future for these beasts and

I think we have a huge responsibility to protect these animals," he added to Newsweek The solo round the world yachtsman is particularly worried that with the media emphasising the aggression sailors are now getting armed to fire at them if they come under attack. That said, he confirmed how ‘terrifying’ the incident was at the time.

“At first, I thought it was wind coming in really fast... And so I started to drop the sail a little bit and then I turned around again to look at where the wind was and I thought, 'Wait, that's not wind, that's fish. Those are orcas!

“They started to come closer and closer. They started to have a look and a little bit of a sniff and then, suddenly, 'BANG,' that was a big one," he explained.

Within minutes, the bottom of the rudder shattered, creating potential risks for the boat. But no human has ever been harmed by the pod of orcas, and it was up to humans to adapt to the mammals, not the other way round. “It's their world, it's not ours,” he concluded.

Jose Antonio was actually a member of the club who had gathered to celebrate the birthday of one of their colleagues.