Four people, including two teenage girls, were tragically killed after two military training aircraft collided in mid-air last Wednesday.
The two girls, who were cousins aged only 13 and 14, were left dead along with both of their pilots after the aircrafts collided and came down on sand dunes near Porthcawl, South Wales.
The two teenage passengers were on a taster flight and had aspirations of joining the RAF.
Witnesses claim that the planes crashed into the sand dunes on the Kenfig Nature Reserve near Porthcawl at about 11am, with at least one of them on fire as it came down. One member ejected but did not survive.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) confirmed that there had been four deaths. The planes had come from RAF Cranwell’s flight training school in Lincolnshire.
Witness Reena Callingham said: “I watched them for a few minutes and then the second one just hit him. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Speaking after the incident, divisional commander for Bridgend police, Tim Jones said: “Clearly the scene is expansive and we will be needing to protect the scene tonight to maintain the integrity of the investigation.”
He added that the complex investigation involved both South Wales police and the Air Accident branch, with debris from the planes widely strewn across the area.
MOD spokesman Paul Barnard noted: “This is the first time that this has happened in an RAF training flight with civilian passengers. These aircrafts are very safe.”
Andy Naysmith, RAF Cranwell’s flight training group captain, said that a service inquiry would be mounted alongside the police and air accident investigations, adding: “We would like to learn what lessons we can from this tragic incident.”
