It was just one of those days for Howard Newby, president of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, whose plane was grounded on a visit to the United States last week.
Professor Newby was on his way from Phoenix, Arizona, to the GLION colloquium on governance for research universities in Delmar, near San Diego, when the plane hit a lamp-post.
Clearly not the kind of thing a pilot expects - which explains why it was passengers who had to stop takeoff by pointing out the damaged wing.