Experts sift through wreckage of gyrocopter crash » Communities » 24dash.com

Experts were today sifting through the wreckage of a gyrocopter which crashed in a field killing the pilot.

Several worried residents called police after watching the aircraft fall about 500ft to the ground in flames at Kington Magna, near Gillingham, north Dorset, yesterday evening.

About 30 firefighters and eight appliances were initially sent to the crash site, a remote area in the middle of farmland close to a housing estate.

The pilot, 58, is believed to come from the Blandford area of north Dorset.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics and his next of kin have been informed.

Eyewitness David Spinney was in his garden at the time when he saw two gyrocopters in the sky, one with a light on.

"One of them sounded wrong, it was a rattling sound." he said. "Suddenly the top end of the helicopter seemed to shatter in to megabits and instantly the helicopter plummeted to the ground.

"The rotor came off in the air, the engine stopped or stalled straight away. It all happened in milliseconds."

Mr Spinney, 58, called 999 and went to join two others helping the pilot.

One of the men had urinated on the fire to put it out, he said.

He added: "I wanted to make sure to see if I could do anything for the pilot.

"I checked him for a pulse, I checked for reaction in the eyes with a torch and felt his chest. I could tell straight away that there were serious internal injuries.

"One of the men tried to get him out of the helicopter because he was trapped by his legs."

The other gyrocopter was thought to have landed elsewhere and the pilot then came back to the crash site, he said.

The aircraft looks like a small helicopter and can fly slow and low to the ground.

It is also known as an autogyro and is similar to a helicopter because it uses a rotor system to develop lift.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) team, supported by Dorset Police officers, were at the scene today sifting through the wreckage.

The Coroner and the Civil Aviation Authority have also been informed.

Linda Stokes, 51, who lives nearby, said: "I heard a bang. I was indoors, my son had gone out and I thought something had hit his car.

"I went outside and my neighbour was running up the road saying a helicopter had come down and then a few people were running up the road to see if they could help."

Deborah Gosney, 50, was on her way back home after a walk when she saw it happen.

"There were two aircraft in the field, I could see two lights, they were just circling and moving about," she said.

"Then all of a sudden one of them was making a spluttering noise like something was cutting out and it just started to spiral down.

"It looked like bits were coming off the aircraft.

"It hit the field, then there was all this smoke and a terrible smell.

"A lot of the neighbours heard the noise, they were coming out of their houses wondering what had happened.

"It all happened very quickly, I ran inside and called an ambulance and people were going over to the field to give assistance."