British Pilot Gets Lost, Gets in Dutch

A British helicopter pilot making a cross-country flight lost his way and ended up in a southern Dutch village early Saturday.

The unidentified 30-year-old man told police he had set off near midnight from Northampton for Leiston in eastern England to buy a car but that he lost his bearings and, after several hours of flying around in heavy clouds, decided to land.

“When he came below the clouds, he saw some lights and thought he was still in England. Then he saw a sign that said ‘Rotterdam--16 kms,’ and that was when he realized he was in Holland,” a police spokesman said.