Mid Wales airport manager killed in plane crash

The manager of Mid Wales airport has been named as one of the two people killed in the recent Welshpool plane crash.

Travel Insurance News - 19/01/2012

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Bob Jones was piloting a small twin-engine aircraft when it crashed at Long Mountain, just outside of the small community of Leighton just before 12:00 GMT on Wednesday, killing both people onboard. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has said that an investigation into the incident is underway.

Thirty-eight-year-old farmer Bryan Morris, who was working outside when the crash occurred, said that the aircraft had broken up significantly and said upon seeing the smoke that he simply thought that someone was having a fire until helicopters arrived on the scene.

Mr Jones had been the manager of the small general aviation and business airport since it was developed from a grass runway on his farmland in the early 1990s. The facility has opted not to provide comment thus far but was closed on Wednesday following the accident.

Jones was well known in Welshpool as a businessman, a farmer and an experienced pilot. MP Glyn Davies of Montgomeryshire, who had worked alongside him during the development of the airport, told reporters that he had a love for flying and that some local businesses would not be operating in the area if it weren’t for Mr Jones.

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