Air accident investigators sent to Prestwick after two men injured in light aircraft crash

Air accident investigators have been dispatched to Prestwick after two men were seriously injured when their privately-owned light aircraft crashed into a field.

The aircraft, believed to be a G-BVNS 1976 Piper Cherokee Archer 2, came down shortly after 4pm on Tuesday during a short flight to and from Prestwick Airport. It landed in a field on the outskirts of Monkton in South Ayrshire, which neighbours Prestwick Airport, with a full emergency response launched.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended with heavy rescue gear and two men, aged 65 and 75, were airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow by coastguard crews.

Prestwick and Monkton. The plane came down to the east of the village on Tuesday after leaving the airport. PIC: MJ Richardson/geograph.org.

The road to the crash site was closed for three-and-a-half hours as crews responded to the incident.

The aircraft, it is understood, was based at Prestwick for many years and is now owned by a company called SAF Prestwick Ltd. The Scotsman was unable to make contact with the company, which is registered to an address in Carstairs, South Ayrshire. Its directors are based in Glasgow and across the west coast.

An AAIB spokesperson said: “We have sent a multi-disciplinary team of AAIB inspectors to Prestwick to begin investigating an accident involving a light aircraft.”

The inspectors will visit the crash site and the airport as part of their investigation.

A similar light aircraft crashed in 2019 near Oban, killing a husband and wife who had been flying from Dundee to Tiree. Police Scotland said its inquiries were ongoing into the Prestwick incident.