'Miracle' escape from plane crash

Posting here cos AW down!

Four people have survived a “Christmas miracle” after a small airliner crashed into a car near Aberdeen Airport.
The plane had just taken off and was heading for Aalborg in Denmark.

It crashed on Wellheads Drive, a main thoroughfare in the Dyce area of Aberdeen, near the city’s airport.

The plane – a 17-seater Fairchild Metroliner metro liner twin prop – had just taken off from Aberdeen Airport at 0800 GMT on Tuesday when it crashed.

The pilot, 40-year-old Per Bakke and co-pilot Jakob Jensen, 23, were treated for cuts and bruises at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Two women who were driving separate cars when the aircraft crashed were checked by doctors and later discharged.

Both the plane and the car burst into flames soon after the crash.

Air investigation

The plane is owned by Northflying – a Danish airline which had contracted it to Ben Air for mail services.

Three fire fighting appliances went to the scene with other specialist units in support.

An RAF helicopter was also scrambled.

The airport was later reopened but traffic in the area remained congested.
Taxi driver Jim Singer, who was one of the first witnesses at the scene, said it was “a Christmas miracle” that no-one was seriously injured in the crash.

He said: “All I saw was this big ball of flame and black smoke starting to billow out from the crash which I presumed was two vehicles caught in car crash.

“Two ladies were standing at the end of the road and I asked them if they were okay. One of the ladies said she was fine and I phoned the fire brigade.”

He said he was “absolutely amazed” the four people involved in the crash had survived.

‘Not a scratch’

“The driver did not have a scratch and for the pilots to walk away from this is incredible, absolutely incredible. I think it’s a Christmas miracle.”

A spokeswoman for the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said an inquiry has been launched to establish the cause of the accident.

She said: “We are investigating the incident and we are sending an investigation team up to Aberdeen.

“I can confirm that it happened around 7.45 this morning and involved a Danish aircraft.

“But I can’t say anything more than that before the inquiry gives its report.”