Flying friends killed as plane crashes on hillside
TWO men who died when their light aircraft crashed just a few miles short of its destination have been named by police.
John MacKinnon, 53, and 37-year-old Andrew Thompson, died when their Cessna 172 plane smashed into a Perthshire hillside ten miles west of Dundee Airport.
The crash took place during heavy rain and fog, triggering a major search operation by the RAF and Coastguard to find the downed plane.
Last night, as air crash investigators examined the wreckage for clues, friends of fatherof-four Mr MacKinnon paid tribute to the mechanic from the Rossshire village of Strathpeffer.
Highland councillor Graham MacKenzie said: ‘Flying was a passion of John’s, he talked about it all the time and got a lot of enjoyment and fun out of it.
‘It brings some comfort to know he would have been enjoying himself when it happened. But it is so very tragic that a man goes off to enjoy his particular hobby and he doesn’t come home.
‘He was very popular, the heart and soul of our community, and he will be sadly missed.’
Mr MacKinnon’s wife Ann, who runs a family-owned delicatessen with her husband, was too upset to speak last night. Mr MacKinnon is believed to have been flying the plane with co-pilot and friend Mr Thompson, who previously lived in Glasgow but had moved to Chester in Cheshire.
The crash comes just a month after the death of Margaret-Ann and David Rous, a newly married couple killed after flying out of Dundee to surprise relatives in Tiree. Their Piper Cherokee aircraft came down in Glen Kinglas, above Loch Etive, south of Oban.
Mr MacKinnon and his friend set off from Inverness on Sunday morning around 11.30am intending to fly to Dundee – a popular base for light aircraft enthusiasts.
It is understood he radioed the city’s airport asking for permission to land, before air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft.
By 12.30pm serious concerns were raised when the aircraft disappeared from the radar around four miles west of the airport.
Police, the Coastguard, lifeboats and the RAF were all scrambled to find the Cessna. Their search took in the Tay, amid fears the plane had come down in water.
By the evening, Police Scotland confirmed that wreckage had been found close to the Perthshire village of Abernyte, and the two men had died.
The tragedy took place during poor weather with the pilots flying through winds of up to 35mph. It was reported the plane crashed into trees between Abernyte and the nearby village of Kinnaird.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch yesterday confirmed its staff arrived on Sunday and remained at the scene.
Highland councillor Margaret Paterson said of her friend Mr MacKinnon: ‘He was a family man and a very likeable gentleman.’