Engine boss among plane crash victims

Two died after an aircraft crashed in Leicestershire

One of five people killed in plane crashes over the weekend ran a firm which supplies engines to Formula One racing team McLaren, it has emerged.

Paul Morgan, 52, was managing director of Ilmore-Engineering, which also supplies engines for Indy Cars.

The 52-year-old died on Saturday when his vintage military Sea Fury plane crashed on landing at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire.

Four other people died on Saturday, in two separate plane crashes in Leicestershire and Essex.

Mr Morgan's company builds McLaren F1 engines

Another man was injured in a fourth plane accident in Lincolnshire.

Two people died in the Leicestershire crash when the light aircraft they were travelling in came down shortly after taking off from Stoughton Airfield, just after 0930BST on Saturday.

The Cessna 152 is thought to have stalled in the air and it ended up in a nearby rape seed field.

A man and woman, who have not yet been named, died at the scene, said a Leicestershire police spokesman.

More than 40 fire-fighters dealt with spilt aviation fuel.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch, part of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Investigation underway

Two more people were killed when the light aircraft they were on board crashed on a small island off Essex.

The accident happened on Osea Island about 15 miles east of Chelmsford at about 1630 BST, said a police spokesman.

Officers were trying to establish where the twin-engine Piper Commanche flew from, he added.

Police said the causeway which connects the island to mainland Essex was now underwater.

The Department of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Branch had begun an inquiry.

Crash landing

Mr Morgan died when he crashed his two-seater WWII plane on landing at Sywell Airport at 1500BST on Saturday.

A Northamptonshire police spokesman said: "A single engine World War II propeller-driven aeroplane crashed on landing at Sywell Airport, flipping over on to the cockpit and trapping the pilot inside."

Mr Morgan, who lived in Brixworth, died at the scene.

The Civil Aviation Authority and the Health & Safety Executive were informed and the airport temporarily closed.

The news of his death has come as a shock to the McLaren team, which has been preparing for the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Pilot injured

In Lincolnshire a man piloting a light aircraft was injured when it crashed.

The Rand KR2 aircraft came down in a field in Upton, near Gainsborough, just after 1400BST on Saturday, Lincolnshire Police said.

A nearby resident managed to free the pilot who was taken to Lincoln County Hospital by air ambulance.

It was not known if his injuries are life threatening.