A small plane crashed into a home in the UK on Saturday, killing all those on board. An interesting story arose from the crash though. Witnesses claim to have seen the pilot make a last minute turn just before he crashed. The plane was initially going to crash land into an open field but when the pilot noticed 20 children in the field playing soccer, he quickly diverted the plane in an effort not to harm the children and crashed into a house. Luckily, the occupants of the home were on vacation.
63-year-old Mike Roberts was expecting a typical flight when he took off on Saturday at 2:20pm on route to the South of France but little did he know this flight would be his last. The twin engine Cessna Citation 501 took off without difficulty but was soon after stricken with intense engine vibrations. The pilot immediately radioed mayday and was told to return to the airport. Seconds after, the pilot went on the radio again and said the plane was going down. Afterwards, the control tower was unable to communicate with the plane.
Witnesses of the incident claim to have seen the plane about to land in a field but the plane inexplicably turned at the last minute. Upon looking at the field, people were shocked to discover school children playing soccer leading them to believe the pilot made the last minute turn to avoid hitting the children.
Witness Damian Lockley, 29, said of the pilot: “He knew he was going down but he wanted to make sure he didn’t hit the children playing football or hit the more densely populated areas.”
Children playing football nearby said he tried to wave them out of the way before he crashed.
Patricia Harman
On another note, the owners of the house were surprised to discover their home had been destroyed while they were away. Eddie and Patricia Harman were on seperate vacations when the incident occurred. Patricia returned home a few hours after the crashed in a taxi and was surprised her street was closed off. Upon walking up to the house, Patricia said “Oh my God! Not the house.”
Eddie Harman
Her husband though took the incident alot more carefree. Eddie was out golfing in Portugal when he heard of the accident. Instead of rushing home, the man took the incident in stride and said “I’m trying not to let it spoil my holiday.” and continued by saying his wife can deal with it until he gets back. That’s pretty incredible. Perhaps it says a bit about the couple’s relationship? Eddie, who used to work in insurance, said there’s nothing that can really be done so he doesn’t see the point of “ruining” his trip.
This story is pretty crazy though. Who knows if the pilot and occupants would have survived had the pilot landed in the field. Also, what were the chances he would have crashed into an empty home. We guess the children and owners of the home lucked out in this situation. Too bad the occupants of the plane weren’t so lucky.
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