PILOT EJECTS AS JET EXPLODES Red Arrow fireball horror

BABE OF THE DAY

CRASH: Smoke rises from runway WITNESSES last night described the shock moment an RAF jet crashed into the runway at a Royal Air Force base.

Two people are believed to have been on board the Red Arrows Hawk jet aircraft before it came down at RAF Valley on Anglesey in North Wales.

Witnesses have claimed that the crew members were forced to eject from the aircraft, which was said to have been returning to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

Plumes of black smoke were seen billowing into the sky after the jet crashed at around 1.30pm yesterday in photos taken by pipe welder Deno James, who works nearby.

He said: “I was near the compound and the plane came around to do a practice landing on the runway. It missed the runway and landed at the left hand side.

“Two pilots were ejected about 200 yards from the ground. I pulled up for a moment in my truck and watched the plane come over my head.”

One eyewitness said that they were waiting for a train when they saw someone parachute from the plane before it crashed.

They said: “I was sat at Rhosneigr train station and you can see the airfield from there. I was watching the Red Arrow flying because you hardly ever see them.

“Then it looked like it was about to land. Next thing I saw was the parachute and then the plane hit the runway and went up in flames.”

Caterer Anne Wilson, 52, who works at The Anglesey Golf Club, at the end of the runway at RAF Valley, added: “I didn’t see the crash but I heard a very loud noise. We are used to the planes going over but this was different.”