Survivors remember Kegworth crash

Of the 126 people on board, 47 lost their lives in the crash

On the 20th anniversary of the Kegworth air disaster in Leicestershire, for some survivors the day of the crash is still fresh in their minds.

At about 2025 GMT on Sunday 8 January 1989, a British Midland Boeing 737 bound for Belfast crashed onto the M1 in Kegworth, killing 47 people.

There were 79 survivors - some of whom have moved on with their lives while others have struggled to cope.

Investigations found the crash was caused by engine failure.

The plane hit the motorway embankment and broke into three pieces, 900yds (823m) short of East Midlands Airport, when the pilot reacted to a fire in the left engine by mistakenly shutting down the right engine.

Strange sound

John Cox, who was the radar controller on duty that night and is now group air services manager for the Manchester Airports Group, said he did not expect events to turn out the way they did.

"We do get aircraft returning with engines shut down for various reasons, normally it's a spurious warning light and they shut the engines down as a precaution.

"We fully expected the aircraft to land, taxi in and everyone would get off."

I looked over the fence and saw this big aeroplane Peter Straw, passerby and helper

But the outcome in this case was very different.

Peter Straw, from Somercotes in Derbyshire, was driving along the A453 near the airport with his wife when he heard a strange sound.

"All of a sudden I heard a whoosh or a thud and that's when we knew something had happened.

"I asked my wife to wait in the car, locked it and I ran up the road. I looked over the fence and I thought "oh crikey" and saw this big aeroplane."

Over the next four hours Mr Straw helped emergency crews get people out of the plane, both dead and alive.

"You've got the strength of 10 men but gradually that leaves you. Suddenly it hits you. I collapsed onto the bonnet of the car and cried my eyes out."

Lifelong effects

For Noel Crymble, a survivor who walked away from the crash physically unscathed and who now lives in Newton Abbey in Northern Ireland, the night's events will never leave him.

"I've suffered from Post Traumatic Stress disorder and it has eased off. But all the tension remains with me every day. It's not something that I can just dismiss out of my life after five or 10 years, it's there every day.

"The load is still there and will probably be with me until the day I die."

But for Chris Thompson, another survivor from Northern Ireland but who suffered serious leg injuries, life goes on.

"I was very badly injured at the time but I like to think now I'm reasonably fit and healthy. There's a legacy of aches and pains but then with age you tend to grow into them.

"I've been fortunate. Firstly I survived and secondly it could have been a lot worse in terms of injury.

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy...but it is something you can try to take something positive out of."

After the crash researchers found the brace position improved survival

After the crash Mr Thompson took part in research, led by Angus Wallace, professor of orthopaedic and emergency surgery at the University of Nottingham, into how so many people survived and which "survivability lessons" could be taken from the event.

Professor Wallace said that being able to leave an aircraft when it has crashed is one of the most important factors in surviving.

"The brace position has been universally adopted. We did five years of research to establish the best position and in 1995 the Civil Aviation Authority issued instructions to airlines to use the brace position as the standard in the UK.

"If your legs are broken, you can't get out of the plane. If there's a subsequent fire, then you'll become a fatality."

Fortunately no cars were struck on the M1 and no-one in the village of Kegworth was injured.

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Forty-seven people died in the crash in 1989