Two killed as RAF fighter jet crashes at beauty spot

FLIGHT investigators were last night examining whether an RAF Tornado fighter jet that crashed into a hill, killing two crewmen, was flying too low.

The Tornado F3 from 43 Squadron was on a routine training flight from RAF Leuchars when it ploughed at high speed into a hill at Glen Kinglas in Argyll yesterday morning.

While a second plane that was part of the same training exercise returned safely to base, the Tornado F3 disintegrated against the hillside at 11:45am, sending debris across a wide area.

Search teams found the bodies of the pilot and navigator.

At a press conference yesterday evening, an MoD spokesman said: "It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the deaths of two RAF air crew from 43 Squadron, RAF Leuchars, in a Tornado F3 crash."

He said the next of kin had been informed and had requested 24 hours before details of their identity were released.

He added: "At the moment our thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends and colleagues of the two aircrew who lost their lives today. The crash is being investigated at the moment. There will be a service inquiry held by the RAF."

Witnesses said planes appeared to have been flying much lower than usual yesterday and that the weather was overcast, with thick cloud.

Aviation writer Jim Ferguson said the question of height would be considered in the inquiry into the crash.

"The board of inquiry will be looking at the aircraft's height, course and speed, as well as the weather and the mission brief," he said. "Over much of Scotland military aircraft are by long-standing agreement permitted to fly at 450 knots and not below 250ft. However, there are parts of the country where the height restriction is understood to be 100ft above ground level."

After the crash, which happened close to the Rest And Be Thankful tourist spot on the A83, west of Loch Lomond, search-and-rescue helicopters from HMS Gannett naval base and RAF Lossiemouth were scrambled to search the remote countryside.

At the scene yesterday, Sergeant Tim Sugars, of the RAF mountain rescue team, said the jet had crashed a third to half of the way up the hill. He said his team helped to airlift two firefighters to the scene to put out the blazing wreckage.

Andy Graham, 60, a retired rigger who moved to Arrochar three years ago, said he saw two Tornados flying low in the area at lunchtime.

He said: "We get jets flying over here on training exercises quite regularly. But today they seemed to be flying much lower than normal."

Will Smith, the barman at the Village Inn in Arrochar, said: "They were flying round the village, over the loch, chasing each other – but that's what they do. They did seem a bit lower than normal, not far off the water."

Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell, North East Fife MP, said: "This tragic accident is yet another reminder of the risks which our servicemen and women have to face every day."

Death crash plane is the fifth Tornado to go down in Scotland

SINCE the Tornado F3 was introduced by the RAF in 1986, there have been 13 recorded crashes in the UK – four of them in Scotland.

2005: Two airmen were rescued after they ejected from an RAF Tornado seconds before the jet crashed into the North Sea.

The pilot and navigator were found in a life raft in St Andrews Bay and taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee within an hour of the crash.

The 20 million jet got into difficulty soon after taking off from RAF Leuchars in Fife.

2003: The crew of an RAF Tornado were forced to make a 200mph crash-landing at RAF Leuchars after the undercarriage on the fighter malfunctioned. Flight Lieutenants Simon Grieve and Graham Harvey walked away unscathed.

1999: An RAF Tornado ditched into the North Sea, narrowly missing the Torness nuclear plant, near Dunbar.

The aircraft, which had been on a low-level night exercise, was pointed out to sea by the crew of two after it experienced mechanical problems, and it crashed less than two miles from the East Lothian nuclear power plant.

1994: An RAF Tornado crashed at Glen Ogle. The Ministry of Defence named the dead airmen as navigator Patrick Harrison, 33, and Pilot Flight Lieutenant Peter Mosley, 31.

They had been on a routine training flight from RAF Marham in Norfolk when the accident happened.

The 20m airspace defender

THE Tornado F3, which costs 20 million, has the pilot in the front seat flying and firing weapons, while the rear seat weapons systems officer controls the radar and defensive countermeasures.

The plane has a wing span of 8.6 metres and a top speed of over 1,600mph and costs 44,440 per hour to keep in the air. The pilots average 220 hours of flying each year.

An important feature of the F3 is its ability to patrol at long distance from its base, supported by air-to-air refuelling.

The F3 can operate in all weathers and at night, with pilots in night-vision goggles. Its main task is defending Britain's air-space for which is equipped with missiles. F3s are ready for use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can be airborne in minutes.