A pilot and his passenger had a lucky escape when their light aircraft crashed and smashed into a tree as it was coming in to land at Clacton.

A police spokesman has identified the two accident victims as Nick Bennett, 47, of Wimbledon, London, and John Harvey, 48, of Horsham, Sussex.

Both men had to be cut free from the wreckage of the plane by firefighters and were flown to Colchester General Hospital by Essex Air Ambulance.

The Piper PA28 came down at 12.35pm on Monday and an investigation is being carried out by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

One of the men was yesterday in a critical condition at the hospital and his passenger was in a comfortable condition on an ordinary ward, according to police.

Four crews of firefighters and ambulances rushed to the incident.

Two crews from Clacton, a rescue tender from Colchester and a foam tender from Maldon worked to make the aircraft safe and cut the men free.

Graham White, 50, from Lancaster Gardens, Clacton, who witnessed the accident, said the two men had been very lucky.

"If they had hit the tree head on they would probably have been killed and if they had missed it they would have gone straight into the lake and drowned."

Fire sub-officer Paul Round said that when they got there they found the plane halfway down an embankment and up against the tree.

"Our first job was to make the scene safe and secure the aircraft before we could get to work freeing the pilot and his passenger," he said.

"We cut the aircraft open in a couple of places and got them out. They were both conscious and were taken off by the air ambulance. A firefighter went with them on the journey to the hospital."

Lucky escape - the plane lying against the tree that prevented it from going into the water.

(Right) To the rescue - firecrews help lift one of the injured men into the air ambulance.

Pictures: STEVE ARGENT

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