Two Scots airmen killed as Tornado crashes in fireball

We got a call saying that an RAF jet had crashed in Northumberland – this was a common occurrence as they regularly flew training flights in the area.

When I got to the area police roadblocks were already in place and no-one was being allowed any further.

Myself and the BBC cameraman had a chat and we decided to continue on foot across country to try and find a decent view point to get some shots.

We were using hedges as cover from the helicopters which were flying overhead but then I realised there was no point as there probably were probably equipped with infrared cameras.

We were walking down a lane when we spotted what must have been one of the aircraft’s wheels in nearby trees.

We decided to head back to where they were coordinating the crash investigation to see what was happening.

We had literally just arrived back when an RAF officer and says: “Right chaps who wants to see the crash scene?”

They drove us around to the site – which was on the other side of a hill where we had found the wheel – and the air was thick with the smell of aviation fuel.

As you can see in the main pic the investigators were dressed in full hazmat gear and were carefully checking the scene for wreckage.

The force of the explosion was so great that the aircraft had disintegrated into many pieces some of which were tiny. However, you can see some larger bits on the horizon.

And, because the Tornado was based at RAF Lossiemouth, near Inverness, there was lots of interest from the Scottish papers.

PUBLICATION… The pictures as they appeared in the Daily Record, Daily Sport, The Journal and The Scotsman on Friday, October 15, 1999…