Pilot dies in aircraft crash

The plane came down in a field at Whitchurch

A pilot has died after his light aircraft crashed in a field in Hampshire, police have confirmed.

The man, who has yet to be identified, had reported difficulties with his plane to RAF controllers at 1225BST on Sunday before disappearing from radar screens.

Fire crews were called to Hare Warren Farm, between Whitchurch and Watership Down, north of Basingstoke, after the plane burst into flames as it crashed in a crop field.

The aircraft, a Wassmer WA40 Super IV aircraft, was last registered in Denmark in May 2000, but had been flying from Perigeux in France when it crashed, police said.

Hampshire police spokeswoman Lucy Dibden said: "A post mortem is expected tomorrow (Monday) and until that time we are unable to identify the pilot."

The wreckage will be left in the field overnight while air accident investigators attempt to establish the cause of the crash, she said.