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Four dead as helicopter and plane collide in mid-air in Buckinghamshire Four dead as helicopter and plane collide in mid-air in Buckinghamshire
(about 5 hours later)
Four people have died after a helicopter and a two-seater plane crashed in mid-air over Buckinghamshire.Four people have died after a helicopter and a two-seater plane crashed in mid-air over Buckinghamshire.
Police confirmed that two people travelling in the helicopter died and two from the plane. Police said it was “too early to tell” what might have caused the collision, and were focusing on identifying the victims and informing their next of kin. Two people were killed in each aircraft.
Emergency services were called to the scene close to the village of Waddesdon at 12.06pm, Thames Valley police said earlier. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch and Thames Valley police have launched a joint investigation into the incident near Waddesdon Manor, which is managed by the Rothschild Foundation on behalf of the National Trust.
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. Paramedics, firefighters and police rushed to Wilderness woods, close to the village of Waddesdon, six miles from Aylesbury, at 12.06pm on Friday after members of the public saw the aircraft fall into the woodland.
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. Len Bellis, a gardener on the Wilderness estate, 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 that earlier, a shepherd on the estate had heard the sound of an aircraft spluttering.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the helicopter and aircraft collided. Bellis drove to the site of the crash in his van where he found the 1.5-metre 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 close to the wreckage.
Air crash investigators were being sent to the scene, but priority was saving lives, police said. “You wouldn’t have recognised the plane as anything. It was nonexistent,” he said.
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. The helicopter fell into the woods about 50 metres from the plane, according to the gardener.
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. A member of the Rothschild family, who lives on the grounds opposite Wilderness woods, said the mid-air crash had missed her by five minutes and she was “totally shocked”. Just minutes earlier, she had been picking plants in the woods.
There have been a number of casualties at the scene, but at this stage this is all we are able to confirm.” She was driving near the woods when she heard a bang, but thought it was a car crash as a corner on the road nearby is an accident hotspot.
Buckinghamshire fire and rescue service said seven vehicles had responded, including fire engines and urban search and rescue vehicles. A spokesman for the nearby Wycombe Air Park, which often trains novice pilots, confirmed that both aircraft had come from the airfield.
Thames Valley police were coordinating the response to the crash and warned there would be disruption to surrounding roads. A Notice to Airmen was previously issued to warn pilots that the airfield’s air traffic control services would be closed during three 30-minute periods on selected days between November 7-30 due to a “staff shortage”.
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. The crash occurred about half an hour after the latest closure was due to end.
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. The plane involved was a Cessna 152, built in 1982 and owned by Airways Aero Associations, which is based at Wycombe Air Park.
“I smelt smoke around midday, but I only really found out what happened when I got home,” she added. It had flown almost 14,000 hours as of May and had previously suffered substantial damage to its landing gear, propeller and engine after a crash at a Cornish airfield in 1993.
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.”