Two feared dead in Staffordshire light aircraft crash
Police suspect two people were killed when a light aircraft crashed into a major railway line in Staffordshire.
The single engine propellor aircraft hit power lines above the West Coast Main Line between Rugeley and Stafford shortly before midday.
The accident caused severe disruption in the Midlands on the major rail route between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly. All services between Rugby and Stafford have been suspended, with replacement bus services provided.
A Staffordshire Police spokeswoman said: "There are potentially two fatalities from the aircraft, but until further investigations have been carried out and families informed, we cannot give any more information."
West Midlands Ambulance Service said paramedics were at the scene within three minutes but there was nothing they could do to help the occupants.
He said: "Crews found the wreckage of a plane between two railway tracks. It had struck the power lines for the railway. Sadly there was nothing that could be done and no-one was taken to hospital. It is not known how many people were aboard the single engine aircraft."
Neighbours nearby heard the crash just before noon today. Kath Wylie, 52, said she was sitting in her lounge when she heard a high-pitched whirring noise.
She said: "I didn't see it, but I heard this noise. Seconds later there was an almighty crash. The house shook. I shot up and shouted to my partner, 'There's been a train crash'."
She said she could see smoke billowing from the site, which is at the fork of two railway lines. She added: "All I could see was fire and smoke. There were people running over, members of the public, all on their phones calling the police."
Derek Higgott, 49, who lives in nearby Back Lane, witnessed the plane coming down. He said: "I was working in my garden. I heard the plane, I looked up, and suddenly it just turned and went straight down like a stunt plane.
"There was a huge thud and black smoke. You could feel the vibration from it and a huge flock of birds all took off."
Mr Higgott said he rushed to the scene with his neighbour, but neither could get very close, and he said they could not see much apart from the debris from the light aircraft.
Rail operators said all services between Rugby and Stafford had been suspended and delays could continue on Saturday.
Virgin Trains services between Euston and north-west England or Glasgow were severely disrupted. A spokesman said the entire West Coast Mainline would
