Families watch as aerobatics end in tragedy

Pilot killed performing stunts for festival crowd

Pilot Chris Penistone, who was 31 and a pilot with the Jet2 airline, died at the scene of the crash on Saturday afternoon during a display at the Methley Bridge Boat Festival.

Festival organisers and witnesses are now helping police and air accident investigators piece together the final moments of the single-seater stunt plane, which hit the ground at a sharp angle.

One witness told the - that he was on a boat trip taking photographs of several of the pilot's stunts, including a loop-the-loop, when the accident happened.

"When he went up a second time, he came down but he just didn't pull up fast enough. It was diving straight down and he pulled up way too late. There was a sickening crunch into the ground and then a slight fire, but nothing major."

The witness took a series of photographs during the aerobatic display and fatal dive which have been handed to police investigators.

"I was just shooting photos and didn't realise it was an accident until I heard the crunch. It didn't sink in at first but I was awake a bit last night thinking about it."

A friend who knew Mr Penistone said he had completed his commercial pilot training and went on to work as a pilot with Jet2, as well as working as an instructor at Sherburn Aero Club.

"He wasn't married but has a girlfriend and a sister. I know his parents quite well, I am devastated."

The friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said Mr Penistone had worked hard in the family building business to save an estimated 60,000 to pay for an 18 month course to train to be a commercial pilot.

"Obviously he was a very experienced pilot. He would have completed thousands of hours. You have to be experienced to become an instructor."

Although the cause of the crash was yesterday still under investigation, the friend, himself a pilot, said it appeared that Mr Penistone did not have enough height to recover from the manoeuvre he was attempting, although it was not clear why this happened.

"Someone told me that he spun into the ground. He may have been doing something called a gyroscopic manoeuvre, a difficult thing to do. It is possible that he just lost awareness of his height."

The emergency services were called just after 4pm on Saturday and paramedics pronounced the pilot dead at the scene. Nobody else was injured .

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Emergency services attended and located the wreckage of a singer-seater light aircraft in a field next to the River Aire on Leeds Road at Methley.

"It had been piloted by a 31-year-old local man who was confirmed by paramedics to have died at the scene. No other injuries were reported and the aircraft had not come into contact with any other buildings or structures as a result of the incident. "

"An investigation into this matter is now under way between the Civil Aviation Authority with West Yorkshire police on behalf of the coroner."

Flowers were left at the scene paying tribute to the pilot.

One message read: "Best pilot we ever knew". Another said: "Chris miss you loads."

A spokesman for the Methley Bridge Boat Festival confirmed that the aerobatic display was part of the event and that police were speaking to organisers to piece together the circumstances. They declined to comment further.