Four Dead As Private Jet Crashes In Hampshire

A pilot and three passengers have been killed when their small private jet crashed and burst into flames on approach to a runway in Hampshire.

A blaze broke out a car auction site near Blackbushe Airport around 3.09pm on Friday when the Phenom 300 plane crashed into a car park.

All four people on board the plane were killed, according to Inspector Olga Venner from Hampshire Police. The airfield was closed in the wake of the accident.

Sky News footage shows the aftermath of the crash, with debris visible among dozens of damaged cars.

The plane had flown to the UK from Milan in Italy. A joint investigation with the Air Accidents and Investigation (AAIB) Brand is under way.

Andrew Thomas, who was paying for a car at the time of the crash, told Sky News it was an "aggressive fire" and there was "explosion after explosion".

He said: "I could see one of the wings sticking up and it was in flames and four, five cars around it were all in flames.

"That soon spread. After 10 or 12 minutes the fire brigade got there and managed to get on top of it quickly, which was fortunate because at one stage it felt like the fire was going to rip across the whole car park."

The A30, which backs on to the airport, was closed following the incident and motorists have been asked to avoid the area.

Robert Belcher, a local aviation enthusiast, said he was driving home when he saw black smoke billowing from the site.

"I could see the plume of smoke waving from about five miles away and was hoping it was just a car fire rather than an aircraft accident."

He added: "Apparently the aircraft was landing and just didn't stop. At the end of the runway there is a car park because the airport is used for car auctions and it's gone into there."

Jenny Cole posted on Facebook: "This is just behind our house - sky is black with smoke. I really hope everyone involved is ok."

Inspector Venner added: "There were four people on board, including the pilot. Sadly there were no survivors. There have been no injuries on the ground."

An airport spokesman said: "Blackbushe Airport confirmed that a Phenom 300 Jet with four persons on board crashed near the end of the runway around 3.09pm while attempting to make a landing."