Plane debris airlifted from site

Police say terrain meant mountain rescue officers were needed – as experts in England prepare to investigate wreckage in search of cause of accident

Investigators have left the site of a light aircraft crash in Perthshire.

The wreckage of the Beechcraft plane was removed from the hillside by military helicopter, which took it to a waiting lorry on the road below.

The lorry’s departure at 12.10pm brought to an end two days of painstaking searching by specialist police officers who had scoured the terrain at Outfield Farm for debris.

The remains of the aircraft will be taken to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch ( AAIB) headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire, where experts will reconstruct it in a bid to discover the cause of the crash.

Chief inspector Mike Whitford said the terrain in which the plane had crashed presented a challenge for his officers. “The conditions were such that we really needed specialist officers – mountain rescue officers who were fully equipped – up there to secure the scene,” he said.

“The AAIB then commenced with sending personnel up from Farnborough. They arrived on Monday and were very much part of the investigation up at the scene.

“We’ve had numerous search officers and other specialist officers – who have investigated air crashes before – up there and helping to recover all the evidence up there to allow us to investigate the circumstances that have led to this situation.”

He added: “Today is the last stage (of the operation). Having mapped out where all the parts of the aircraft landed, they have now gathered them all together in lifting bags, ready to be lifted down on to lorries that will transport all the parts down to Farnborough.

“The specialists down there will probably try and reconstruct as much of the aircraft as they can to see if they can identify if there’s been a mechanical or construction aspect to this inquiry that might have led to this situation.

“However, there’s nothing to indicate what the cause might be at this time; it could be any number of things.”

He said the investigation was likely to continue “for some time”.

“The investigation will continue with specialist detectives,” he said. “The AAIB’s challenge is to take away all the parts and come back with an assessment of whether they think anything to do with the aircraft has contributed to the situation and when all the evidence is gathered together it will be reported to the procurator fiscal.”

Chief inspector Whitford also expressed his sympathies for the families of the victims.

Pictures: Alan Richardson/Dougie Nicolson.

Air accident investigators use a helicopter to remove the wreckage from the hillside.

Pictures: Dougie Nicolson. Chief Inspector Mike Whitford at the crash scene, from where a lorry removes debris for specialists to analyse.