Golf superstar Padraig Harrington feels lucky to be alive after his private plane crumbled in mid-air.
The Dubliner was flying from Las Vegas to Georgia for this week’s McGladrey Classic on the US Tour when a piece flew off the jet.
The 43-year-old had been flying in a Hawker private jet along with a number of other players after a charity event, which briefly destabilised.
And after his first round on the course, Padraig said: “Shot 1 over today, but still happy to be here. Have a look at what happened on the plane I was on, one hour into the flight.”
Horror: Padraig showed how parts broke off his private plane
But his wife Caroline revealed that her husband tried to act cool and calm when he met her after the plane horror.
She said: “They took off from Las Vegas at six o’clock and 40 minutes into the flight a piece fell off the plane.
“It was a type of door between the fuselage and the engine but Padraig said there was no real panic and that the pilots weren’t panicked.
“The plane destabilised for a very short period of time until they realised what happened and then they returned to Las Vegas.
Famous fans: Padraig with Mrs Brown’s Boys creator Brendan O’Carroll and wife Jenny
“There was another Hawker jet on the tarmac there and they took the piece off that and put it on their plane and flew off to Sea Island again.
“He didn’t really get much of a fright, I don’t think, because on a private jet that size you can see the pilots and they didn’t appear to be too worried.”
Previous Padraig suffered an aborted take-off in Abu Dhabi, when his Etihad Airways plane’s tyre was puncted – shattering lights on the airport runway.
