Sunbathers shout 'Murderer!' at pilot after light aircraft crash lands on beach, killing man and girl

An eight-year-old girl and a 56-year-old man have died after they were hit by a light aircraft as it made an emergency landing on a beach in Portugal.

Onlookers reportedly branded the pilot a ‘murderer’ after the Cessna-152 light aircraft collided with the two victims as it made an emergency landing on Sao Joao beach near Lisbon on Wednesday afternoon.

Police have now confirmed that both people in the plane, an instructor and a pupil on a flying lesson, have been arrested and are being questioned.

The plane, which was built in 1978, belonged to a flying club. The pilot reportedly told investigators that he did not have sufficient time to land it in the sea after reportedly experiencing an engine failure.

One eyewitness, known only as Mafalda, recalled how she grabbed her children and fled as the plane hurtled to the ground.

‘Those first moments were very tense. People wanted to attack the pilot and began to shout at him that he was a “killer”‘, she said.

‘Everyone was really disgusted.’

According to a local Portuguese TV station, the pilot was described by his spokesman as being ‘very experienced’, and made a Mayday call before engine failure forced him to perform the emergency landing.

He was released after questioning alongside his younger pupil, with both set to appear in court later today.

Enrique Pinte Coelho, a journalist who was playing on the beach with his son at the time of the crash, said: ‘I’ve just seen this plane make an emergency landing.

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‘It came down and advanced around 100 metres in the wet sand after it landed, taking two people who were lying on the beach with it.

‘We were very near the landing spot and were playing football. It passed over the football pitch and we had to move back to avoid being hit ourselves.

‘A large group of people surrounded the plane immediately. One of its wings was broken.’

Police are yet to comment on the cause of the crash, claiming that it was ‘too early’ to speculate.