Pair survive plane crash

A Shropshire couple cheated death after the light aircraft they were aboard crashed to the ground and burst into flames.

Alan and Pam Ratcliffe, from Six Ashes, Bridgnorth, were among four people on board the plane when it crashed into a field just 500m from the runway at an airfield on Alderney in the Channel Islands.

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Mr Ratcliffe was at the controls of the Piper PA-32 as it gouged a 150m path across a field before coming to rest just 30m from the edge of a cliff.

The 59-year-old leapt to safety with his 57-year-old wife, Katie Farrell, 40, of Enville, Staffordshire, and another friend as the plane caught fire and was gutted.

The aircraft is thought to have stalled as it tried to avoid a fog bank while coming into land at the airfield in Alderney where the quartet planned to land for lunch on their way home from holiday on Sunday.

They were all treated in hospital after the drama and Miss Farrell was moved to nearby Guernsey for treatment to a suspected broken leg. The others were not badly hurt.

Mr Ratcliffe said: "My wife and I have both got bumps and bruises, but are otherwise fine.

"We were very lucky to find somewhere to put the plane down on when we did.

"I do not want to go into details about the accident and what might have caused it, but I am pleased we all managed to get out.

"My main problem was finding somewhere to land and once we were down I had to worry about the cliff edge. We stopped about 30m from the edge.

"There were a couple of small fires on the plane and I managed to put one of those out with a fire extinguisher. Then it really went up, but by then we had all got out."

Tom Neill, an eyewitness, said: "The plane seemed to be swaying to one side while the engine was spluttering. There was then a really big thud.

"I thought it was going down into the sea.

"There was a lot of smoke. I didn't think anyone would get out alive."

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is now investigating the incident.

By Deborah Collins