Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
30 YEARS ON KEGWORTH IS REMEMBERED
Leslie still living with the horror of disaster in which 47 died
A SURVIVOR of the Kegworth air disaster has said he did not know if he was alive or dead in the moments after the crash.
Leslie Bloomer told how he was not even supposed to be on the British Midland Boeing 737 travelling from Heathrow to Belfast on the evening of January 8, 1989.
The 57-year-old, from Killylea in Co Armagh, had visited a boat show in London with two friends, with one suggesting they get an earlier flight home.
Speaking after yesterday’s emotional memorial service marking 30 years since the tragedy, he said: “Flying is still tough for me but I’m very glad to come here.
“I’ve met people I haven’t seen for 20-odd years. To meet nurses, ambulance crews, the fire service – it’s brilliant. And to see the way people here put this on and how it impacted this village.”
Survivors and families of some of the 47 people killed attended a church service and wreath-laying ceremony in the Leicestershire village, close to where the plane, which suffered engine trouble, came down on an embankment.
Reflecting on the disaster, Mr Bloomer added: “I actually had a flashback at the weekend of the last 10 seconds or so before it hit the ground and I could imagine the pilot sitting there trying to steer it and then the thud on the ground.
“When the plane stopped moving I was sitting there and, for a second or two, I wasn’t sure whether I was dead or alive actually.”
Describing the church service, Mr Bloomer said: “It was very emotional when they started to read the names. The first and second names read out, I knew those people from back home.
“I remember when I found out they were killed on the plane, and when they were read out today, I could barely hold the tears back.”
It was very emotional when they started to read the names
ON YESTERDAY’S SERVICE