Jetstream crew die in crash on runway 13

The accident happened yards from where the award-winning British

Aerospace planes are built.

The smash created a fireball, and the impact and intensity of flames

left the aircraft barely recognisable, with only the tailpiece --

sporting its identification, G-SUPR -- intact.

The pilot and co-pilot were named last night as Captain William

Sample, 41, of Kerseland Road, Glengarnock, Ayrshire and 25-year-old

First Officer Russell Grace of Greenan Road in Ayr.

Captain Sample was married with no children and had been with BAe for

almost three years. First Officer Grace was single and had been with the

company for 2[1/2] years.

Officials from the Department of Transport's accident investigation

branch arrived last night and will begin trying to piece together the

last moments of the flight at first light today.

The plane, on a training flight to East Midlands Airport, apparently

had left the ground but then slewed to the right off the runway on to an

apron before bursting into flames and ending upside down.

The crew had no time to radio the control tower, according to Mr

Matthew Hudson, chief executive of Prestwick International Airport.

Debris, including a propeller from the twin turboprop, was scattered

hundreds of yards in all directions when the plane hit the ground.

Police were last night searching the area around the plane, a charred

mass of black molten metal.

There were lines of tread marks from braking wheels, and badly gouged

areas on the runway and apron tarmac where the plane came to rest.

The airport's fire service was on the scene within a minute to cover

the burning plane with foam.

Chief Superintendent John Duncan, divisional commander for Strathclyde

Police at Ayr, said it was not known if the pilots had issued any Mayday

calls signalling the problem.

As police sought witnesses, Mr Duncan added: ''Our level of knowledge

is limited. It was taking off when it seemed to slew suddenly to the

right and burst into flames. There were two bodies on board and both

have been recovered from the wreckage.''

Mr Hudson said the plane had taken to the air ''but was not very

high''. He added: ''For reasons unknown, it crashed off the edge of the

runway.''

Mr Hudson said the pilot and co-pilot would have had no time to send a

message because ''it was split second stuff -- there just wasn't a

chance, and the aircraft ignited on impact.''

He said the airport's own firemen had put out the main blaze.

Cutting equipment had to be used by Strathclyde Fire Brigade to

recover a body as small outbreaks of fire continued, and leaking

kerosene was covered by a foam blanket.

In a brief statement, Prestwick's communications manager of British

Aerospace, Mr Ian Black, said that a training flight with two on board

had crashed, and ''the pilot and co-pilot were killed instantly''.

He said inquiries into the cause of the accident would be led by Air

Accident Branch investigators, and that British Aerospace would

co-operate fully with their officials.

The airport was closed for one hour.

The Jetstream Super 31 is a 19-seat twin turboprop feederliner, more

powerful than its predecessor, the Jetstream 31. It had its first flight

on April 13, 1988, after being announced at the Paris Air Show in June

1987.

Some 365 Jetstream 31s and Super 31s have been delivered to operators

worldwide.

By the end of June this year both Jetstream fleets had flown more than

2.6 million hours in more than 3.2 million flights.

A month ago BAe announced a #12.5m order for six Super 31s to be

operated by Regional Airlines of France.

The plane has a strong safety record and has been described as one of

the world's best-proved aircraft. A spokesman for Flight International

Magazine said last night its record was excellent.

That track record, however, was marred three years ago when two Navy

pilots and five Saudi airmen died in separate incidents.

Jet problems were known4

Tragic twist15