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Wednesday, 14 June, 2000, 12:24 GMT 13:24 UK

Five Feared Dead in Air Crash

Two people are dead and three are missing after an air ambulance crashed into the River Mersey near Liverpool. The twin-engined Piper Aztec aircraft went down as it prepared to land at Liverpool Airport, in Speke.

The search is covering an area six miles across It had set off from the Isle of Man carrying a man on a stretcher, his wife, two female nurses and the pilot.

A rescue involving a number of lifeboats, and helicopters from RAF Valley in north Wales and Merseyside Police is under way, co-ordinated by the coastguard.

Two bodies have been recovered, and the search for survivors is being conducted over a wide area because of the fast tide.

A Liverpool Coastguard spokesman said: "The other three are still missing but there is still hope - there is always hope."

Mike Jackson, director of operation services with Mersey regional ambulance, said: "We were scheduled to collect the patient on arrival and he was bound for the neurological centre at Walton Hospital."

It is understood the alarm was first raised when the aircraft disappeared from view at about 1100BST.

'Technical problem'

Rod Hill, managing director of Liverpool Airport, confirmed that the plane had departed from Ronaldsway, on the Isle of Man, but came down just short of the runway.

"It simply went off the radar within close proximity to the runway which suggests a technical problem.

It simply went off the radar within close proximity to the runway which suggests a technical problem Liverpool Airport

"It was a six to eight-seater aircraft and was sub-charted from a Blackpool based operator called Air Navigation and Trading. It was sub-charted to Island Aviation which is on the Isle of Man."

Mr Hill added: "Obviously we will not open the airport until it has been established that all the passengers are recovered. Anyone due to fly out should still come here but they may be subject to delays."

Police later said that the pilot of the plane was a married father-of-two from the Blackpool area who was part-owner of Air Navigation and Trading.

A colleague said he had been with the company for many years.

Wreckage spotted

Wreckage from the crashed plane was spotted by a flying student while out on a lesson.

The 32-year-old male student was with instructor Gary Auld, 28, when the control tower asked if they could scour the river after the plane disappeared off the radar screen.

Mr Auld, of Helicentre Limited, said: "The control tower was trying to call the aircraft. I contacted the tower to ask if they wanted us to get out of the way and they said no and asked if we would go and have a look.

"We went over the river and my student saw what appeared to be some wreckage. There were the landing wheels and a window in the river, along with some other parts and a small oil slick around the area.

"We hovered around looking for survivors and then the police helicopter came with thermal imaging equipment on it and we left."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_790000/790636.stm

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), June 14, 2000