UPDATED: The Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service are responding to reports of a helicopter crash at Bembridge Airport this afternoon (Thursday).
Appliances from multiple stations across the Island including Ryde, Newport and Shanklin are en-route to the scene alongside Police and the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service.
Crews are attempting to locate the aircraft, which is thought to have come down in woodland near the end of the runway.
The emergency services were alerted to the crash at around 16:00.
UPDATE @ 16:39 – Emergency teams have successfully located the whereabouts of the aircraft, which has been confirmed as a Beagle Pup plane. They were initially told it was a helicopter that had gone down.
Police, fire and ambulance personnel are still working to gain access to the remote location of the casualties on Brading Marshes in an area roughly known as Centurion Copse.
Island Echo can reveal that the plane was sighted going down to the west of Bembridge Airport by another plane heading out of Sandown Airport. A helicopter inbound to Sandown Airport has made an about turn to Bembridge, first circling the area to confirm the crash and has now landed at the crash site itself – the first rescuers on scene.
It’s thought that the 2 occupants are alive and conscious. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time however an air ambulance has been scrambled to Bembridge.
UPDATE @ 17:35 – A second air ambulance is now on scene, meaning specialist doctors and paramedics from both the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) are now dealing with this incident alongside several appliances and specialist rescue resources from Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.
Fire crews and paramedics have used off-road paths and Land Rovers to access the marshland area in which the plane has crashed.
UPDATE @ 18:05 – 1 casualty has been extricated from the plane and is being flown to hospital by HIOWAA.
A second casualty has also been extricated and is expected to leave the scene via air ambulance in the next few minutes.
High voltage electricity cables have been struck by the plane, which has caused a electricity pole to list to one side (pictured above). Scottish and Southern Electricity Network engineers have arrived on the marshland to assess the damage.
UPDATE @ 19:37 – Emergency services have now stood down from the incident following the safe evacuation of both casualties via HIOWAA and TVAA.
The pilot and passenger have escaped with their lives… Continue reading at https://www.islandecho.co.uk/2-escape-with-their-lives-after-plane-crashes-into-power-cables/.
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