THE RAF instructor killed alongside a 15-year-old cadet in a mid-air collision was tonight named as Abingdon man Mike Blee.
Flight Lieutenant Blee and Nicholas Rice, a schoolboy from Calcot in Reading, died when their Grob Tutor trainer aircraft and a glider collided above Drayton yesterday.
The glider pilot, named as Henry Freeborn, from Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, parachuted to safety.
Tonight a man at Mr Blee’s home in St Mary’s Green, Abingdon, said he was too upset to talk about the 62-year-old.
Nicholas’ father, John, also did not want to make any comment.
During the day, air accident investigators were combing through the wreckage of the two aircraft, scattered across two fields close to Church Lane and the B4016 as they sought to discover what caused the collision.
Nicholas, a member of the Combined Cadet Force, was a pupil at the Elvian School in Reading and more than 20 of his friends have joined a tribute page on the Facebook website.
Urging other pupils to sign on to the RIP site, they left a message saying: “This group is dedicated to the memory of Nick Rice who died on June 14 in a plane crash, aged 15.
“He was an amazing friend – we will all miss you very much, buddy.”
It added: “Please join this group if you knew Nick and miss him a lot.”
Eyewitness Michael Allen-Bloomfield, of Penlon Place, Abingdon, described the moment the two aircraft collided.
The 27-year-old, who was fishing nearby in south Abingdon, said: “The glider looked like it was coming into land.
“But then they hit each other head-on.
“That was my biggest fear when I saw them heading towards each other.
“A bit of one of the wings broke off when the two planes hit each other.
“It was just a loud thud. I did not see any smoke.
“It could have been that the people in the plane suffered serious injuries on impact because I think they probably could have got out in time. But I didn’t see any parachutes coming from it. I don’t think they realised what had happened.
“The plane started descending straight away. Then it dropped like a stone.
“The glider went down about a minute later and then I saw the parachute. I just heard an almighty crash.”
The Tutor T Mk 1, used for elementary flying training by 14 University Air Squadrons and 12 Air Experience Flights throughout Britain, had taken off from RAF Benson.
RAF Benson station commander, Group Captain Jonathan Burr, said: “This is a difficult time for all of us who are affected by this tragedy.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the two people who lost their lives.”
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