Tri-Service
RAF Student Pilots Killed In Plane Crash
The Royal Air Force has paid tribute to two student pilots who died in a civilian plane crash.
Cameron James Forster, aged 21, and Ajvir Singh Sandhu, aged 25, were killed when the light aircraft crashed into a remote field in Ryedale, between Castle Howard and the A64, in North Yorkshire.
The station commander at Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse, Group Captain Ian Laing, said: "We were very saddened to hear of the deaths of Aj Sandhu and Cam Forster in a civilian flying accident at the weekend."
"They were both exceptionally talented young men in the prime of their lives. The thoughts of everyone at RAF Linton-on-Ouse are with their family and friends at this difficult time".
Describing the scene, Superintendent Mark Grange, of North Yorkshire Police, said the plane landed more than 200m away from the nearest houses and looked like it had come "straight down".
"It looks like an aircraft, with two wings and a tail fin where it should be. It's in a bad way and it's obviously come down heavily. It's sat on its underside so it has not flipped."
"Whether they tried to land like that I don't know. I cannot say where they were going and what they were doing in the air."
Twenty firefighters along with ambulance crews and the police had orginally attended the scene of the accident.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigators are now probing what caused the Slingsby Firefly light plane to crash. It has been claimed that the pair were planning on doing some aerobatics during the flight.
RAF Linton-on-Ouse is the home of No1 Flying Training School, teaching pilots the skills necessary to fly fast jets in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The two men had experience of flying Tucano trainers - fully aerobatic they are used to learn formation flying, low-level navigation and general aircraft handling.
Photograph: SWNS
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