Clacton, Great Oakley: Man dies in plane crash (From Clacton and Frinton Gazette)

Clacton, Great Oakley: Man dies in plane crash

1:41pm Monday 29th June 2009

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A PILOT from Clacton died when his plane crashed into a field at Great Oakley.

The 60-year-old man, who was the only person in the single-seat red plane, was declared dead at the scene.

An air ambulance and ground crew rushed to the field off Harwich Road after reports of a light aircraft crash at 10.45am on Saturday.

Joy Hale, a spokeswoman for the ambulance service said: “We were alerted to what appeared to be a crash landing. Sadly, the 60-year-old man who was the sole occupant of the single-seater aircraft, was declared deceased at the scene.”

Nishan Wijeratne, a spokesman for Essex Police, said dead man was believed to be from the Clacton area, but he had not yet been formally identified.

He said: “Police were contacted by the ambulance service shortly before 11am on Saturday following reports an aircraft had crashed into a field off Harwich Road. Officers arrived at the scene and discovered a body of a man with the debris.”

The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now looking into the crash, and two AAIB investigators have been sent to the crash site.

The wreckage of the plane has been transferred to the AAIB’s site in Farnborough for examination.

A post-mortem examination on the pilot is due to be carried out later this week.

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