This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8099551.stm
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 7 | Version 8 |
---|---|
RAF crew dead after mid-air crash | |
(20 minutes later) | |
An air cadet and an RAF reservist died when their light trainer plane and a civilian glider collided in mid-air and crashed to the ground. | |
Witnesses said they heard a thud before seeing both aircraft spiralling nose down towards the ground at Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire. | |
The glider pilot parachuted to the ground and survived. | |
The RAF personnel were in a Tutor single-engined training plane the Ministry of Defence said. | |
Police said the two people died in the crash just after 1400 BST. | |
'Big impact' | |
James O'Neill, who lives nearby, said: "We heard the noise of an aircraft come very low over the house followed by a thud. | |
"My wife who had actually seen it spiral down came running in to say that the plane had crashed and then very quickly she saw a second aircraft, which was a glider also spiralling nose down into the ground." | |
Resident James O'Neill: "It wasn't surprising when the thump came" | Resident James O'Neill: "It wasn't surprising when the thump came" |
Stuart Wilson who was in a field outside his house nearby said he saw a plane coming down. | |
"There was a big impact noise when it hit the ground," he said. | "There was a big impact noise when it hit the ground," he said. |
Five fire engines attended along with ambulance and police teams, the spokeswoman for the fire service added. | Five fire engines attended along with ambulance and police teams, the spokeswoman for the fire service added. |
Police said the next of kin of the RAF personnel were being informed. | Police said the next of kin of the RAF personnel were being informed. |
In February, two Air Training Corps cadets and their RAF instructors were killed in a mid-air crash between two light aircraft in south Wales. | |
In a separate incident on Saturday, a pilot died when the glider he was in crashed in a field in Ratley, Warwickshire, close to Banbury. | In a separate incident on Saturday, a pilot died when the glider he was in crashed in a field in Ratley, Warwickshire, close to Banbury. |