Cause of air crash which killed pair may not be known for year
INQUIRIES UNDERWAY
IT could take up to a year to find out how a Gateshead man and woman died in a aircraft crash over the Queen’s Sandringham Estate.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is carrying out inquiries into how Nigel Dodds, from Dunston, and Valerie Barnes, 73, from Whickham, died when their Piper PA28 plane crashed on marshland in Wolferton, Norfolk, on Monday, September 11.
Businessman Mr Dodds was believed to be flying the plane, in which Mrs Barnes, a former school worker at Kelvin Grove in Gateshead, was a passenger.
The AAIB recovered the plane on the evening of Tuesday, September 12, and it was taken to Farnborough, in Hampshire, for examination.
A spokesman for the organisation said normally investigations take between 10 to 12 months before it can establish conclusively how a plane crashed.
He said: “There are all manner of things we look into – such as the settings the instruments were on – as we test difPilot Nigel Dodds, who was killed in the crash near the Sandringham estate ferent parts, conduct obtain records.
“We try to come up with a picture of what happened and why.
“On the rare occasion we might release a special bulletin but it is unlikely in this case.” Questions could be raised about how the pair ended up flying over the royal estate.
Since 2015 a no-fly zone has been enforced within 1.5 miles of Anmer Hall in the Sandringham Estate, which includes some areas of Wolferton.
The restriction bans any low-flying aircraft and drones flying below 2,000ft.
The ban was put in place for security reasons, given Sandringham’s status as a residence of the royal family. interviews and