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| Version 7 | Version 8 |
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| Aircraft crash victims identified | Aircraft crash victims identified |
| (19 minutes later) | |
| The three people killed in a light aircraft crash in Scotland were a councillor his wife and daughter from Essex. | The three people killed in a light aircraft crash in Scotland were a councillor his wife and daughter from Essex. |
| John Smith and his family died when their aircraft crashed on farmland near Oban in the west of Scotland. | John Smith and his family died when their aircraft crashed on farmland near Oban in the west of Scotland. |
| Mr Smith lived with wife Angela and grown-up daughter Jacqueline in Burnham-on-Crouch. | Mr Smith lived with wife Angela and grown-up daughter Jacqueline in Burnham-on-Crouch. |
| Investigators have been trying to establish why the crash happened on Monday. | Investigators have been trying to establish why the crash happened on Monday. |
| The plane carrying the family, which took off from Oban on Monday morning before being lost from radar screens, was heading for an airfield in Essex. | The plane carrying the family, which took off from Oban on Monday morning before being lost from radar screens, was heading for an airfield in Essex. |
| Wreckage, which was spread over a 400m area above Loch Scammadale, was found by a sheep farmer on Tuesday afternoon. | |
| The inquiry is very much at the initial stages because it's such a rural setting Chief Inspector Ciorstan Shearer | |
| Mr Smith had been a Conservative member of Maldon District Council since the early 1990s and was understood to have been at the controls of the aircraft. | Mr Smith had been a Conservative member of Maldon District Council since the early 1990s and was understood to have been at the controls of the aircraft. |
| Tom Kelly, a colleague on the council, said: "I just can't believe this has happened. | Tom Kelly, a colleague on the council, said: "I just can't believe this has happened. |
| "He was a very experienced pilot. They often went on breaks." | "He was a very experienced pilot. They often went on breaks." |
| Council leader Alan Cheshire said: "We are absolutely devastated." | Council leader Alan Cheshire said: "We are absolutely devastated." |
| Chief Inspector Ciorstan Shearer of Strathclyde Police said the crashed plane was thought to be a PA28 Piper Arrow 3 light aircraft. | |
| She said: "The inquiry is very much at the initial stages because it's such a rural setting. "The priority for Strathclyde Police is to find out exactly what has happened here." | |
| She added that members of her team were liaising with staff from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, who are helping to direct the inquiry. | |
| A farmer alerted police to the wreckage at about 1535 BST on Tuesday. | |
| The plane had taken off from Connell Airfield at 1135 BST on Monday, heading for Andrewsfield, Great Saling, in Essex, via Blackpool. | |
| It was more than 24 hours before wreckage of the aircraft was discovered. | |
| A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said there was no legal requirement for a private pilot to file a flight plan unless they were going abroad or crossing a large expanse of water. | |
| He added: "A big international airfield can track flights and launch a search and rescue if necessary. | |
| "However, a private pilot may be leaving from a small airstrip or even a patch of land in a farmer's field. | |
| "No-one may be aware they have left, let alone not arrived at their destination. There is no legal requirement to notify your destination and therefore there may be no-one to initiate an overdue action." |