Helicopter crash killed family

Accident investigators are at the scene

The three victims of a helicopter crash in Kent were a husband and wife who were travelling with their baby son, police have said.

Mark Price, 39, was with his wife Jean, 33, and their 14-month-old son Samuel when their helicopter crashed in a field shortly after take-off.

The Hughes 500 aircraft came down in Cudham Lane South, at Knockholt, near Sevenoaks, Kent, at about 0950 BST.

The family were from Chessington, in Surrey, a police spokesman said.

On Saturday the police said there were no survivors on board the helicopter, which had taken off from nearby Biggin Hill airport.

'Local flight'

Emergency services were called to the scene within minutes after being alerted by a member of the public who witnessed the crash.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the couple and their son were pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who arrived by air ambulance.

Carol Leach, from Biggin Hill airport, said the helicopter, which was privately chartered, took off from there shortly before crashing.

It was due to return there later after what was described as a "local flight".

A spokesman for Biggin Hill airport said: "We are saddened by the news as we have an excellent safety record."

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation branch of the Civil Aviation Authority have been sent to the scene.

Mrs Price's parents, Jim and Judith Lehany, of Colburn, near Richmond, Yorkshire, spoke of their "great shock" at the "tragic accident".

Their daughter had been a pupil at Risedale Comprehensive School - where Mr Lehany, who was now retired, had taught - before studying at Richmond Sixth Form College, they said in a statement issued by North Yorkshire Police.

"A coroner's inquest is scheduled to open this week in Kent," the statement added.