Slow progress after fatal air crash

Warwickshire Police said they were not treating the mid-air collision between a Cessna 402 and a light aircraft near Coombe Abbey Country Park in Brinklow, Warwickshire, as suspicious.

An operation involving firefighters, police and the RAF to recover the bodies of the victims, believed to be three men and two women, is continuing.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is leading the inquiry into what caused the crash just before 11.30am on Sunday.

Police said the recovery operation would take some time because the Cessna aircraft had crashed in thick woodland which was difficult to access.

Det Supt Adrian McGee said: "We would like to thank everyone who has come forward with witness accounts so far. We are very grateful for their assistance and will be contacting them later."

Both aircraft came down towards the front of Coombe Abbey, a historic luxury hotel - one to the right and one in nearby Brandon Wood.

The pilot of the Cessna 402, understood to be a man, has been praised for trying to steer the plane to safety. Eyewitness Malcolm Collins, from Daventry, Northamptonshire, said the pilot managed to gain control of the twin-engined Cessna before it eventually plunged into trees.

All four people on board the Cessna 402 - two men and two women - were employees of specialist survey company Reconnaissance Ventures Ltd (RVL) and were confirmed dead at the scene.

The pilot of the light aircraft, believed to be a microlight, was also pronounced dead.