Two men aboard a restored 1950s fighter trainer aircraft were killed today when it crashed at a British air show, accident investigators said.
The De Havilland Vampirecrashed just north of the Biggin Hill airfield in Kent, southeast England, at around 6 p.m.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch spokesman Mr Nick Smith said: "At this stage I would not be prepared to comment on a possible cause of the crash."
He added: "I can think of no other way to describe it other than it just fell out of the sky.
"It was part of a display and the planes separated and we do not really know what happened."
The display was the final part of the air show. Police sealed off the scene and roads in the vicinity were closed.
Eyewitness James Downing (17) said he saw the Vampire corkscrew twice before it disappeared from sight.
He then saw a huge ball of fire explode into the air and heard a sound which he said was "louder than thunder."
Earlier in the day the show was disrupted when another aircraft became stranded on the runway. Its undercarriage either collapsed or failed to come down when the aircraft came in to land.
AFP