After losing the use of his legs in a plane crash, a Spanish engineer has launched a new kind of flight school where other paraplegics can learn how to fly planes.
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After losing the use of his legs in a plane crash, a Spanish engineer has launched a new kind of flight school where fellow paraplegics can learn how to fly planes.
José Luis de Augusto was an engineer aboard the Airbus A400M military aircraft that crashed in May 2015. Two pilots and two engineers died in the crash, with Augusto and another crew member the only survivors thanks to civilians who helped them out of the wreckage before the plane caught fire.
Augusto's injuries were severe and caused him to become paraplegic. However, this did not clip his wings. After four years adapting to his disability and training with an instructor from Italy paid by his former colleagues at Airbus, the former engineer obtained the license to pilot an adapted aircraft.
Now he shares his experience as an instructor for the “New Wings” project he launched in Sevilla: the first flight school in Spain for paraplegic people. His specially-designed airplane is controlled with a traditional yoke and a lever, called "handy flight", which replaces the use of the pedals.