AIR crash experts are examining the wreckage of a light aircraft to discover the cause of a flying accident at Hurn which claimed the life of one man and left two others fighting for their lives in hospital.

The single-engined aircraft from Guernsey crashed and burst into flames moments after taking off from Bournemouth Airport on Saturday.

Two men, believed to be the pilot Rob Le Page, 54, and passenger Dave Bougourd, were

airlifted to the specialist burns unit and rescuers also recovered the body of a third man from inside the charred fuselage of the Socata Tobago aircraft.

But tragedy could easily have turned into disaster as the stricken plane plummeted to the ground just yards from the packed Alice in Wonderland family park where hundreds of youngsters and their families were enjoying a day out.

And drivers on the busy Parley Lane also had a lucky escape as the aircraft bounced across the road before ploughing through a fence and hedge at the entrance to the theme park in Merritown Lane where it came to rest atop a grassy bank, overturned and burst into flames.

Motorists forced to stop rushed to help but were beaten back by the fierce flames.

Airport and civil rescue services were quickly on the scene and used foam to quell the blaze while extricating the two survivors from the tangled wreckage.

They had suffered severe burns and were flown by the Dorset and Somerset air ambulance and the Dorset police helicopter to the specialist burns unit at Odstock hospital near Salisbury where they remain in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Police are not naming the dead man until after a post-mortem examination due to be carried out tomorrow but they have confirmed that all three men aboard the aircraft were from Guernsey.

It is understood the three, all aviation enthusiasts, were en route to a flying event at Henstridge airfield in Somerset where the air ambulance is based when the accident occurred shortly before midday.

Insp Shaun Cronin of Dorset Police said: "The aircraft had just taken off when the pilot suddenly turned back. It was going at low speed and was losing height and unfortunately didn't make it back to the runway."

Civil Aviation Authority and government air accident investigators were immediately called in to examine the remains of the 16-year-old French-built aircraft for clues to the cause of the accident.

Police have also appealed for information from anyone who saw the crash or the events leading up to it.

Eye witnesses told the Daily Echo that they believed the aircraft skidded along the road on impact before overturning and bursting into flames.

Children playing cricket at the nearby Bournemouth Sports Club described how the plane plummeted, hit the road and exploded.

Within minutes the airport's emergency services were at the scene, followed by police, four ambulances and the fire crews from Christchurch, Springbourne and the heavy lifting equipment from Blandford.

Russell Lucas, owner of the Alice in Wonderland park, told how he heard a noise like thunder and looked out of his office to see smoke rising from the scene of the crash just a few yards from the packed car park and the airport crash tender already on the scene.

He said: "We had about 400 to 500 visitors in the park at the time and the police told us to keep the place open and continue to run it as normal as they didn't want a mass of people trying to leave at once.

"As the road outside was closed off, we had to use our spare exit so that our visitors could get out later in the day."

Celia Lucas, from Bournemouth Sports Club, said: "Our under-13s cricket team was playing on the pitch near the road and said they saw the plane hit the road and then burst into flames.

"The children are understandably very shocked by it, as are we all. I was surprised that anyone got out of it alive."

All flying was suspended at the airport for around an hour immediately after the crash and there was some disruption for passengers with arrivals delayed or diverted to other airports and subsequent departures delayed.

Police sealed off the B3073 Parley Lane between Chapel Gate and Hurn village for several hours while accident investigators were on the scene and fire crews cleared foam, spilt fuel and crash debris from the road.

First published: August 30