Isle of Wight crash latest: Three people killed in crash during flying lesson

A helicopter crashed in a field on the Isle of Wight, killing multiple people on board.

Four people, including the pilot, were on board the helicopter for flying lessons on Monday. Three people were killed in the crash, while the fourth person was airlifted to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities have yet to release their identities.

Darren Toogood, editor and publisher of the local outlet Island Echo, told Sky News the helicopter crashed in a field near a “significantly busy, high-speed road”.

“It was on one of the first flights of the day,” he said.

Mr Toogood said it’s an “incredibly busy area”.

“Lots of tourists down at the moment. It appears no vehicles were involved, which is incredible, given how busy this road would have been this morning,” he added.

A manager of a holiday park near the crash scene told the BBC the day has been “chaotic” following the crash.

“They’ve closed off all the roads at the moment,” said Fleur Sanders, manager of the Appuldurcombe Gardens Holiday Park in Wroxall, Ventnor.

She told the BBC it’s the height of the park’s busy summer season, and there are “guests that can’t get access…there’s a long diversion, tourists and motor homes are trying to come in”.

A helicopter crashed into a field on the Isle of Wight on Monday, killing three people and seriously injuring a fourth.

Steffie Banatvala and Bryony Gooch have the full story:

Joe Robertson, MP for Isle of Wight East, has instructed people to avoid the area.

“Where the helicopter came down is fairly rural,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It’s surrounded by fields and a road that runs from Shanklin and Sandown, which are on the east, quite well-known for their beaches, through to Ventnor in the south, which is part of the rocky part of south of the island. It is not in a very populated area, albeit it seems to be fairly close to a road that runs between two towns.”

Joe Robertson, Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, has spoken out following the death of three in a helicopter crash on the Isle of Wight.

He told Times Radio the incident was “heartbreaking”, saying what should have been a fun morning out turned to “tragedy”.

Earlier, we brought you news that aircraft G-OCLV is listed as a Robinson R44 II helicopter.

Here you can see an example of Robinson R44 model helicopter:

Witness Leigh Goldsmith told the Isle of Wight County Press she was driving towards Shanklin when she saw the helicopter “spiralling” before it went out of sight and came down in a hedge.

A spokesman for Northumbria Helicopters said that its aircraft G-OCLV – which is listed as a Robinson R44 II helicopter – was involved in the accident during a flying lesson.

The firm said: “The flight, which departed from Sandown Airport at approximately 9am, was carrying four passengers on board including the pilot, and was undertaking a flying lesson.”