THE Prince of Wales will never again fly an aircraft of the Queen's

Flight following his disastrous crash-landing on Islay last year.

However, although Prince Charles was at the controls when the BAe 146

overshot the runway and ended up in boggy ground, the captain of the

aircraft was yesterday blamed for the accident and as a consequence can

no longer carry on as an instructor pilot.

The RAF had suggested to Buckingham Palace that the prince should

undergo intensive retraining, including simulator flights on a BAe 146.

The suggestion indicated a degree of criticism over the prince's

skills as a pilot of this particular aircraft.

The crash could have cost the lives of the prince and the 10 others on

board at the time.

Although he completed his wings course as a young man, Prince Charles,

a group captain in the RAF, had never undergone refresher courses.

His father, who at the age of 74 still regularly takes over controls

of royal aircraft, has always made a point of undergoing retraining

courses every six months.

The Prince of Wales has not flown an RAF aircraft since the accident.

Yesterday, as a Ministry of Defence report into the accident severely

criticised Squadron Leader Graham Laurie, captain of the crashed

aircraft, and his navigator for negligence, the prince made it known he

would no longer take the controls of a royal aircraft.

''It is entirely a personal decision,'' a spokesman for the prince at

St James's Palace said.

Senior RAF officials were at pains to make it clear that Squadron

Leader Laurie was not being made a scapegoat.

''Between you and me, he is very fortunate that he has been allowed to

remain a member of 32 Squadron (the Queen's Flight),'' a senior officer

said.

He had flown with the prince for seven years and he should have

developed a good enough rapport with him to take over control without

any problem, it was suggested.

Although the pilot is still flying aircraft of the Queen's Flight, the

fact he can no longer act as an instructor means he cannot hand over

control of the aircraft to a host pilot. That had been the official role

of the prince when he failed to land the BAe 146 at Islay on June 29

last year.

The aircraft initially touched down on its nosewheels with 784 metres

of runway remaining. However, the mainwheels did not make firm contact

with the ground.

With only 509 metres of runway remaining, the aircraft finally settled

but it was too late for the activation of various braking systems.

The captain attempted to turn to the left on to a taxiway. However,

the nosewheels left the paved surface and sank into soft ground.

Because of his failure to intervene in the final stages of the

approach, the captain was negligent. The navigator, who had failed to

advise the captain of a tailwind and to draw his attention to inaccurate

approach perameters, was also deemed to be negligent.