Mid-air crash victims will be named
An air cadet and an RAF reservist who died when their training aircraft collided in mid-air with a glider are due to be named.
The two-seater RAF Tutor plane had taken off from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire on an air experience flight with the pilot and the Combined Cadet Force cadet onboard when the accident occurred.
The pilot of the glider managed to parachute from his stricken aircraft and he landed safely in fields at Sutton Courtenay, near Abingdon.
Eye witnesses said the single-engined trainer hit the ground nose first with a violent impact after spiralling out of control.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "A thorough investigation will take place and we will take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence of this tragic event.
"It is too early to comment on the cause of the incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the passenger and pilot at this time."
He added that identification of those who died would not happen until later on Monday.
Eyewitness Stuart Wilson, 48, was in a field outside his house when the plane came down a few hundred yards away. He said: "I saw the plane coming down vertically, nose down. There was a big impact noise when it hit the ground."
Another eyewitness, Bill Baker, 65, said: "I saw the plane coming down. It was spiralling round like a helicopter blade and as it got closer to the ground it started to go nose down. I heard the impact of the plane behind the trees and about 15 seconds later the glider came down. There didn't seem to be any explosion."
Gerard Holden confirmed that the German-made Standard Cirrus glider that collided with the Tutor was registered to his son Mark Holden, who lives in Locks Heath, near Southampton. He said that he also flew the aircraft but refused to confirm or deny whether his son was the pilot who parachuted from it.
