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Old 15th Mar 2005, 08:22
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Intergalactic
 
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Here is a BBC report.


Two lost in air ambulance crash
An air ambulance with two people on board has crashed into the sea off the Mull of Kintyre.
Wreckage has been found about five miles off the coast from Campbeltown.

The aircraft - travelling from Glasgow to Campbeltown to pick up a sick child - had a paramedic and pilot on

board when contact was lost at 0020 GMT.

The fixed wing Islander aircraft, operated by Loganair, was preparing to land at Machrihanish airport when it

crashed into the sea.

Three lifeboats and a Sea King helicopter are at the scene, along with HMS Penzance, a navy minesweeper.

The navy crew were preparing to lower underwater cameras after picking up a sonar signal from the seabed

which could be the plane's fuselage.

No distress call

A spokesman for RAF Rescue Centre, Kinloss, confirmed that the twin-engined plane had been on its way to

pick up an 11-year-old boy with "severe abdominal pains" who was to be taken to Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow.

It is understood that the boy was later taken to hospital by road.

Brett Cunningham, Coastguard area operations manager, said: "We were alerted through the air traffic control

system just after midnight, but the aircraft had not put out a distress call.


Everyone in the service is shocked by this news and our thoughts are with the families of the paramedic and

pilot
Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson

"The wreckage includes the undercarriage, lifejackets and various other debris and is spread over quite an

area.

"The weather was not a factor and there was no indication of anything in the area that would have played a part."

It is understood there was low cloud at about 400ft at the time the plane disappeared, although wind and rain

were light.

Sympathy for families

A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "Everyone in the service is shocked by this news and

our thoughts are with the families of the paramedic and pilot who were on board the aircraft, as we all wait for

news from the rescue operation."

The aircraft is one of three operated for the Scottish Ambulance Service by Loganair, based in Glasgow,

Lerwick and Kirkwall.

Aberdeen-based aviation journalist Jim Ferguson told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland

programme that it was hard to say what had happened, but something had gone "horrendously wrong".

He did not think there was a black box on board the aircraft.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...nd/4349523.stm

Published: 2005/03/15 07:00:53 GMT

© BBC MMV
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