Plane crashes at Britain’s largest aviation museum

A private plane has crashed at an airfield at Britain’s largest aviation museum.

Pictures show the wreckage of a red and white aircraft that crashed on Tuesday at Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

It has not been confirmed whether there are any casualties. Witnesses said firefighters performed CPR on a person close to the wreckage.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary was told of the crash at 1.41pm, with a spokesman confirming that “officers from all emergency services are currently on scene”.

A Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said 10 fire engines were sent to the scene but said “no action by our crews has been needed so far”.

IWM Duxford is Britain’s largest aviation museum and features runways and exhibition buildings containing hundreds of aircraft.

The museum posted on Twitter, formerly X: “The emergency services are onsite at IWM Duxford responding to an incident involving a private aircraft.

“We have no further information at this time. IWM Duxford is closing to visitors for the remainder of this afternoon.”

A party of schoolchildren on a visit to the museum is believed to have witnessed the crash.

Kate Moore, 62, was at Duxford with her husband when the plane crashed.

She said: “While we were outside, we heard a bang and turned to see plumes of smoke.

“We were a long way away and many others there hadn’t an idea anything had occurred. I only saw the crash post-impact.

“It’s all a rather tragic end to a joyful day seeing the Hurricane and other planes flying after their winter maintenance.”

IWM Duxford said it would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The attraction plans to reopen on Good Friday.

The colour of the plane’s crashed fuselage and a partly visible registration on it match a privately owned Cirrus SR-22 Turbo light aircraft that is registered at Duxford airfield.

Flight data from FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft took off from Duxford at 1.21pm and circled the airfield for 19 minutes before crash-landing at 1.39pm.

A team of inspectors from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) was deployed to the crash site.

The Duxford airfield was closed on Tuesday night as emergency services remained at the scene and an investigation into the crash got underway.

Police cars were seen going into a side entrance in the evening darkness while staff and security guards at the site refused to comment.

A spokesman for IWM Duxford said: “The emergency services are onsite at IWM Duxford responding to an incident involving a private aircraft. We have no further information at this time.

“IWM Duxford will remain closed to visitors on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March. We are expecting to reopen to the public on Friday 29 March. We ask that out of respect for all parties that any speculation be avoided at this time.”