Shropshire Star

Aircraft tragedy: Crash plane’s wing folded back on itself, accident report concludes

A light aircraft that crashed and killed two people in Powys was unable to recover from an "inadvertent manoeuvre", an investigation has found.

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Scott Penlington and Nick Jefferies

Pilot Nick Jefferies and passenger Scott Penlington died at the scene at Cwmbach, Builth Wells, in September 2016.

Mr Jeffries had taught One Direction singer Harry Styles to fly in the same plane that crashed. He gave lessons to the star while the singer was going out with his daughter.

Witnesses noted the plane's wing had folded back on itself before it corkscrewed and hit the ground.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report said the impact "was not survivable".

It found there was a structural failure near the root of the wing, caused by upward bending which went beyond its design limits.

No pre-existing defects or faults were found.

Nick Jefferies gave flying lessons to One Direction star Harry Styles

The report said the failure most likely happened because of an "attempted recovery from an inadvertent manoeuvre inducing a structural overload".

While it could not establish the cause of the unintended manoeuvre, the report said possible reasons included an event within the aircraft taking the pilot by surprise, a medical issue or incapacitation of either the pilot or passenger, or avoiding a potential collision with an object or bird.

Harry Styles was described as a close family friend of Mr Jeffries after he once dated his daughter Emilie.

The singer was Emilie's date for their year 11 school prom in their home town of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, just months before he took part in X Factor and formed One Direction.

He remained friends with Emilie – and her dad Nick took him on flying lessons in his single-engine two-seater Cosmik plane decked in the Union Flag colours.