The
Northants Chronicle & Echo today carries the following report:
Two killed in plane crash
AN investigation was under way today after the pilot and passenger of a light aircraft were killed when their plane crashed into a field in Northamptonshire.
Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority Air Accident Investigation Board were immediately called after the two-seater plane came down near Potterspury, at about 5.10pm yesterday, with the two bodies trapped in the cockpit.
The plane was a single-engine Slingsby Firefly which had left Turweston Aerodrome earlier in the day.
Two aeroplanes were seen circling overhead shortly before the tragedy, with witnesses saying they were flying perilously close to each other.
A teenager, who asked not to be named, said: "It sounded like the engine of one cut out and it started plummeting down, swivelling in the air, kind of wobbling.
"It hit the ground, but there was no explosion just a loud thump and then lots of smoke."
Witnesses called the emergency services after seeing the white aircraft come down on the Wakefield Estate just west of the south Northamptonshire village.
Firefighters from Milton Keynes and Towcester, plus an emergency tender from Mereway attended along with officers from Northamptonshire Police and paramedics.
Insp Gary Ashton said: "We have begun our investigations and posted a senior investigating officer to the scene along with a chief inspector and command unit.
"I can confirm two people died in the crash and we are likely to be there for much of the next 24 hours."
The incident caused major hold-ups on the A5 and A508 as traffic was diverted from the scene.
BBC News article also updated:
Two killed in light plane crash
A trainee pilot and an instructor were killed when a light aircraft crashed in Northamptonshire on Wednesday night.
Investigators are at the scene of the crash in a field off the A5 road at Potterspury near Towcester.
The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) is trying to discover why the single engined Slingsby Firefly aircraft crashed.
The aircraft, which is believed to have belonged to a flying school, had flown out of Turweston Airfield in Bucks.
A spokesperson for Turweston Airfield said: "The people who died were friends. We are speaking to the AAIB now."
Northamptonshire Police are trying to trace the relatives of the people who died.
Saddened to read that the casualties are now confirmed fatalities.
RC