Condolences
The names of the deceased have just been announced on the BBC evening news.
I knew Mike Blee from my time on ULAS, when he was the CFI, back in the mid 80s, and flew with him on several occassions. I will always remember him as a super person.
I also knew Nick Rice, the cadet who was killed. I am service helper at Elvian School CCF in Reading. I was on the ranges with Nick on Saturday and remember him coming over to thank me in the car park on Saturday afternoon for having had a great day shooting. On Sunday he was off to Benson for AEF flying- we all know what happened.
I was priveleged to be in the school assembly this morning when the awful news was broken officialy to all the students at the school, and we said some prayers for those involved, and tonight, when we held our normal parade night. Several of the cadets had been with Nick at Benson when the crash occured and some were flying at the time, so were well aware of the accident. We spent this evening putting together some words of tribute about Nick, which hopefully will be published in due course.
What an awful waste.
Prayers and best wishes to both families, and to the many others who are affected by this tragedy.