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Coping with tragedy - a year on

How the KM Group captured the aftermath of the plane crash
How the KM Group captured the aftermath of the plane crash

It is a year on from disaster.

But still questions need answering and homes rebuilding after the horrific plane crash in Farnborough in which five people died.

On March 30 last year a Cessna Citation 501 crash landed into a house on Romsey Close in Farnborough shortly after taking off from Biggin Hill.

The two pilots and three passengers on board were killed. The house it crashed into on the end of the close was empty. Owners Ed and Pat Harman and their children were away on holiday.


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Miraculously no one on the ground was hurt but the scars of the crash remain.

The house has been flattened but still has not been rebuilt and the investigation into the accident is still ongoing.

Martin Muscatt of Lyndhurst Close, which backs onto Romsey Close, was there on the day the plane came down. He said: “It does make you more aware. Even when a plane goes overhead you tend to look up. In that respect it stays in your mind. It’s a fresh experience of it every time a plane goes past.

"The house it hit has been grounded, but there was a long delay. They have at last put the roof back on the house it just clipped the garage of.

"It’s been a year now and if it was me living in that close I would be a bit disappointed that things have not moved along further."

A preliminary report into the crash found no clear reason for the crash. It said the plane, including its engines and circuits, had no faults.


~Listen: Neighbour Martin Muscatt tells of his memories from the tragic day >>>


An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch is still continuing.

The people of Farnborough want answers though. The accident could so easily have claimed more lives.

“My son was playing at the bottom of the close and it could have been a different story if the plane had landed a few houses to the left or right” said Mr Muscatt.

“You think for the people who were on board. The pilot tried to avoid the houses and couldn’t land on the field. My hearts go out to the families. I hope they are beginning to move on.”

Pilot Mike Roberts, 63, co-pilot Michael Chapman, 57, former British Touring Car Championship drivers David Leslie, 54 and Richard Lloyd, 63, and data engineer Christopher Allarton, 25.

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