Overview
- Emergency services were alerted at about 4:15pm on February 28 after a light aircraft ditched just off Marine Parade East at Lee-on-the-Solent.
- HM Coastguard, lifeboat and helicopter units, the air ambulance, South Central Ambulance Service, Hampshire Fire and Rescue, and police responded.
- Firefighters secured the wreckage, winched the plane onto the beach, and police maintained a cordon as it was moved to the top of the shingle under overnight security.
- Witnesses reported the aircraft flying unusually low before a nose-first impact, and members of the public helped the pilot after he crawled from the overturned plane.
- The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said an inquiry has commenced to understand the circumstances of the forced landing, with local recovery arrangements continuing.