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Aircraft and helicopter involved in mid-air crash in Buckinghamshire Four dead as helicopter and plane collide in mid-air in Buckinghamshire
(about 3 hours later)
A helicopter and another aircraft have been involved in a mid-air collision in Buckinghamshire. Four people have died after a helicopter and a two-seater plane crashed in mid-air over Buckinghamshire.
Emergency services were called to the scene close to the village of Waddesdon at 12.06pm, Thames Valley police said. Police confirmed that two people travelling in the helicopter died and two from the plane.
Officials confirmed there had been casualties, but were unable to give any further details. Emergency services were called to the scene close to the village of Waddesdon at 12.06pm, Thames Valley police said earlier.
A spokesman for the nearby Wycombe Air Park confirmed both aircraft had come from there. A representative of Waddesdon Manor, a large estate near Aylesbury, said the crash happened near the village of Upper Winchendon, a little beyond the manor’s grounds. A spokesman for the nearby Wycombe Air Park confirmed both aircraft had come from there. A representative of Waddesdon Manor, a large estate near Aylesbury, said the crash happened near the village of Upper Winchendon, near the manor’s grounds.
She said the manor’s staff were quickly on the scene in the aftermath of the crash to direct traffic and help emergency vehicles access the site more quickly.She said the manor’s staff were quickly on the scene in the aftermath of the crash to direct traffic and help emergency vehicles access the site more quickly.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the collision was between a helicopter and an aircraft. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the helicopter and aircraft collided.
Air crash investigators are being sent to the scene, but priority was being placed on saving lives, police said. Air crash investigators were being sent to the scene, but priority was saving lives, police said.
South Central Ambulance Service said the incident had caused “a number of casualties”. A spokeswoman said: “We received the call at 12.09pm, for a mid-air collision involving a helicopter and an aircraft in Upper Winchendon, near Aylesbury. South Central ambulance service said: “We received the call at 12.09pm, for a mid-air collision involving a helicopter and an aircraft in Upper Winchendon, near Aylesbury.
We sent a number of resources to the scene, including a Thames Valley air ambulance, two ambulance crews, two ambulance officers and a rapid response vehicle.We sent a number of resources to the scene, including a Thames Valley air ambulance, two ambulance crews, two ambulance officers and a rapid response vehicle.
There have been a number of casualties at the scene, but at this stage this is all we are able to confirm.”There have been a number of casualties at the scene, but at this stage this is all we are able to confirm.”
Buckinghamshire fire and rescue service said seven vehicles had responded, including fire engines and urban search and rescue vehicles.Buckinghamshire fire and rescue service said seven vehicles had responded, including fire engines and urban search and rescue vehicles.
Thames Valley police are coordinating the response to the crash and warned there would be disruption to surrounding roads for the rest of the day. Thames Valley police were coordinating the response to the crash and warned there would be disruption to surrounding roads.
As night fell, a drone appeared to over over the crash site and the lights of the rescue mission could be seen through the dense woodland as emergency services searched the wreckage.
A local woman who was walking her dog nearby at the time of the crash, told the Guardian :“You wouldn’t really be able to tell there was a crash.” She only realised something serious had happened when a police helicopter appeared overhead and heard the sirens of emergency services.
“I smelt smoke around midday, but I only really found out what happened when I got home,” she added.
A member of the Rothschild family, who lives on the grounds opposite Wilderness woods where the wreckage of the plane and helicopter landed, told the Guardian the mid-air crash missed her by five minutes and she was “totally shocked”. Just minutes earlier, she had been picking plants in the woods.
Rothschild was driving her estate car near the woods to a dog grooming event when she heard a bang, but thought it was a car crash as a corner on the road nearby is an accident hotspot. Len Bellis, who arrived on the crash site just minutes afterwards, reported hearing a “horrendous mechanical noise” that “ sounded like a tin shed collapsing”. He said moments earlier, a shepherd on the estate heard the sound of an aircraft spluttering.
Bellis, a gardener on the Willderness estate, drove to the site of the crash in his van where he found the 5ft fuselage of the burning plane. He said that although he did not realise at the time, he was just metres from a body, which was in grass a few metres from the wreckage.
“You wouldn’t have recognised the plane as anything, it was nonexistent,” he said.
The helicopter fell in the woods around 50 metres from the plane, according to the gardener.
The shepherd, who arrived moments earlier, had already called the emergency services, who rushed to the site of the crash.
John Bercow, the local MP, said: “The air collision near Waddesdon is clearly extremely serious and I express my thanks to the emergency services for responding so quickly.John Bercow, the local MP, said: “The air collision near Waddesdon is clearly extremely serious and I express my thanks to the emergency services for responding so quickly.
“Naturally, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch will need to look at this collision but – in the meantime – my thoughts are very much with those involved in the incident, and their friends and families.”“Naturally, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch will need to look at this collision but – in the meantime – my thoughts are very much with those involved in the incident, and their friends and families.”