User:Macintosher/Bladon Air Accident

The 2010 Bladon aeroplane crash was an aircraft crash that occurred on 15 January 2010, just after 1400GMT. The accident happened near the A4095 and A44, two main roads in the settlement of Bladon, Oxfordshire, UK. One of the pilots in question flew for Ryanair.

Accident
The accident took place shortly after 1400GMT when the Piper PA-31 Navajo crashed shortly after take-off from London Oxford Airport. The plane had recently been grounded at Oxford due to the severe weather conditions that the United Kingdom had at the time. It has been reported to have nose dived into a snow covered field near Oxford Airport whilst the pilot tried to recover the aircraft.

The cause of the accident is unknown, and the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch is due to investigate. Witnesses of the accident said that the engines stopped after being at full throttle and the aircraft attempted to ascend. A witness to the accident reported that he saw the aircraft diving towards the ground and looked as though as if the pilot was trying to pull the aircraft back up though it didn't happen in time for a crash to be prevented.

Location of the accident
The accident occurred half a mile from the A4095 in Bladon, in a snow-covered field.

The aircraft
The aircraft involved was a fixed-wing aeroplane. It was a Piper PA-31 Navajo, on American registration/tail number N95RS.

Consequences of the accident
The accident killed the only two people on board and the aircraft burst into flames after crashing into a frozen field, leaving a debris trail. As a result, the South Central Ambulance Service stood down. However, it took 1 hour and 40 minutes for the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to put out the fire, due to the remote location. The aircraft was completely destroyed.

Emergency response
Thames Valley Police, the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the South Central Ambulance Service attended the accident. The fire crews had difficulty laying hoses to put out the fire, but they had arrived in enough time to extinguish the 30ft flames by 1540GMT. Four fire pumps responded.