Father dies in birthday gift plane crash

♦ Three brothers who paid for their military enthusiast father to fly in a Second World War Mustang watched in horror as he was killed when the plane crashed on landing.

An inquest heard that John Marshall, 84, was a passenger in the P-51D fighter-bomber and enjoyed 50 minutes in the air before it got into difficulty in a cross wind while landing. The plane bounced off the runway and burst into flames after hitting an oak tree at Hardwick airfield.

Mr Marshall, of Willoughby Waterleys, Leics, died instantly from head and neck injuries on Oct 2, 2016.

Maurice Hammond, 58, the pilot who owned the Mustang, survived with burns, a broken neck, shoulder and ribs. The inquest continues.