Seconds From Disaster - Motorway Plane Crash

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• published: 17 Oct 2015
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Seconds From Disaster - Motorway Plane Crash Traffic on a motorway was due to return to normal today after an aircraft whose brakes failed careered across it killing one person and injuring another. The two-seater L-39 jet came to a standstill across both carriageways of the M11 motorway in Cambridgeshire after failing to stop on landing at Duxford airfield. Amazingly, the privately-owned jet did not hit any cars on the normally busy motorway when the accident happened at 1.50pm yesterday. A police spokeswoman said one person who ejected from the aircraft was killed and another received minor injuries. "The privately owned two-seater landing at Duxford airfield landed on the runway but is believed to have suffered a brake failure and overshot the runway, ending up on the M11," she said. "No vehicles were on the motorway at the time." The plane, which was not part of a flying display, came to rest lying across both carriageways, she added. Details of the two people on board were not being released until next of kin had been informed. The L-39 jet involved in the crash was a standard training aircraft for the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries in the 1970s and 80s. The single engine, two-seater craft made its first flight in 1968 and was used by the Russian aerobatic team, the Russian Knights. More than 2,200 have been sold to both private buyers and military clients. After the accident, the red cream and black jet was resting on its side on the southbound carriageway of the M11. It was surrounded by foam sprayed on to the road by fire fighters who remained at the scene with police until the area was deemed safe. Both carriageways of the motorway were closed while the wreckage was cleared. The northbound carriageway was reopened by 10.30pm yesterday but police said contractors were working overnight to clear the southbound carriageway. The jet crashed through a wooden fence at the bottom of the grassy airfield and then skidded across the northbound carriageway over the central reservation, bending it slightly, and coming to rest on the road surface. Ted Inman, director of the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, said the plane was based at North Weald, near Harlow, Essex. The aircraft was believed to have been paying a visit to the airfield. "It's sad that somebody's lost their life and I find it amazing that no one else has been involved," he said. "The air accident people will have to look at it and we will look at the implications with them and see if any lessons can be learned." Ken Lyndon-Dykes, co-owner of the plane with the man who died, said the jet had just undergone rigorous testing. As he visited the crash scene, he said of the plane: "It was in sparkling condition. "And it's just had a permit issued from the Civil Aviation Authority so it has to go through rigorous testing." Speaking about the man who died, he said: "I had breakfast with him this morning. He was a wonderful, wonderful man. "A family man and full of life, very proficient, very professional. "This is a great shock to all of us. He was a terrific guy." The plane was taken to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford following the completion of a preliminary investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.