A horrified resident has told of the moment a light aircraft “nosedived” into the side of a hill in Fife in a horror crash that killed the pilot onboard.
Emergency services raced to the scene near Fife airport in Kinglassie after the alarm was raised at around 11.40am on Monday. Police and ambulance arrived in the area alongside a Coastguard rescue helicopter.
The 50-year-old male pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured during the incident. Dave Nicolson, who was returning home when he heard the aircraft flying overhead, said he believes the plane didn’t sound like it was “running correctly”.
Dave told STV News: “I had a look and the next thing I heard it stalling and it just nosedived into the ground. I heard the bang from down the bottom of the village and drove up here to find out what had happened. There was an old boy at that time phoning the emergency services.”
A team of AAIB inspectors have been dispatched to the scene to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident. A spokesperson for the AAIB said: “The AAIB has been notified of this accident and is deploying a team of inspectors to commence an investigation.”
Emergency services are still at the scene. A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We received a report of a light aircraft having crashed near Fife Airport, Kinglassie, around 11.40am on Monday, December 23, 2024. Officers attended and a 50-year-old man, the pilot, was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin are aware.
“No-one else was injured. Emergency services remain at the scene and enquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash are continuing.”
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