Four people have been confirmed dead after a light aircraft and a helicopter crashed in mid-air over the Buckinghamshire countryside this afternoon.

The aircraft collided just 15 minutes after taking off from Wycombe Air Park which trains rookie pilots.

Wreckage landed near the Rothschild family's Waddesdon Manor, 16 miles north-west of the airfield, just after midday.

Residents in the nearby village of Upper Winchendon heard a loud bang and could see and smell a plume of black smoke from the crash scene.

The pilot of the helicopter and its single passenger, as well as the pilot and a passenger of the plane, died in the crash, which happened at around 1,000ft.

Pictures from the scene show fragments of the helicopter's rotor-blades and the plane's fuselage scattered around the woodland floor.

Aerial footage from above the site where the helicopter and plane collided in mid-air this afternoon. Four people, two from each aircraft, are dead following the crash at 1,000ft

Those on the scene say no one survived the crash, which left smouldering wreckage near the grounds of the Waddesdon Manor. Police have now set up evidence tents at the site

A piece of fin, thought to be the tail-end of the small, Cessna plane involved, was visible

A plume of smoke was seen over the woodland shortly after the two aircraft came down

The aircraft came down near Upper Winchendon near Aylesbury, to the north west of London

A local resident told MailOnline: 'My father heard a loud bang. He ran up to the scene. It was clear pretty quickly that no one has survived.'

'My mother said a man, who I think was someone who had been out walking nearby, went running up to the manor to say there had been a crash. Everyone is now helping the emergency services.'

At least seven fire engines and three search and rescue vehicles rushed to the scene after the first 999 call came in at 12.06pm.

Police vehicles arrived at the crash site and officers have put up evidence tents in the woodland. Crash experts are attempting to piece together what happened.

Rescue workers had launched the fire brigade's drone over the fallen wreckage in a bid to locate any survivors, but no one was taken to hospital.

None of the victims had been named last night, but the dead helicopter pilot's friend and former colleague Captain Phil Croucher said: 'He was probably the most respected instructor in the country.

'He achieved a very high position in the Army. If you wanted a training instructor there's no one more highly qualified.

'Almost everybody in the country has been instructed by him – most instructors have been trained by him. Everybody in the industry looked up to him.'

He was said to have been training a foreign flying student on a beginners' course when the helicopter crashed.

Captain Croucher, 65, of Ayrshire, said the pilot, who worked for Helicopter Services flying school near Aylesbury, was in his sixties and had a partner and family,

He added: 'I was shocked and surprised to hear what had happened. He was a real gentleman. Of course it is an industry where this does happen. We don't stop, we just get on and do the job, he wouldn't have wanted me to stop flying.'

Flight data shows a two-seater helicopter was flying at 1,025ft in the area at the time, but suddenly went off radar shortly after 12 noon. It had only been in the air for 15 minutes.

The plane that crashed is believed to be a Cessna 152, a popular training aircraft which has space for only one pilot and one passenger.

Police close to the crash site in the Buckinghamshire woodland today. No one on board either aircraft survived the crash

Police have accessed the woods and set up a cordon around where the two aircraft came down

Photos from the scene show police tents have been set up where the two planes came down

Fire engines and police were seen at the entrance to the estate as crash investigators took over

A Cessna 152 took off from Wycombe Air Park around the same time as the helicopter and disappeared from radar at the same time.

The plane thought to have been involved was made in 1982. The helicopter feared to have crashed was built earlier this year.

Both the aircraft feared to have crashed made successful loops this morning, suggesting that they were being used repeatedly for pilots' training.

Staff from the Waddesdon Estate, which is managed by a foundation set up by the eminent Rothschild family, helped direct emergency vehicles to the scene of the tragedy as police threw up a massive cordon around the area to preserve the scene.

Waddesdon Estate gardener Len Bellis described how he found the wreckage minutes later after hearing a 'horrendous noise'.

He said the Cessna was 'non-existent' but for a 5ft section of burning fuselage.

Two men he met at the scene told him they'd heard the plane 'stuttering' just before the crash.

The grand country manor house, which was used in the filming of The Crown and The Queen starring Helen Mirren, is understood to have been hosting a Christmas Market at the time of the crash.

The Cessna 152, built in 1982, is owned by Airways Aero Associations. It needed extensive repairs in 1993 after a crash in Cornwall.

Staff from the Air Accident Investigation Branch have been drafted in to begin an inquiry into what led to the mid-air collision.

One pilot said it was easy to be distracted by the estate.

Writing on an internet flying forum, the 36-year-old added: 'I've been guilty of paying too much attention to pointing passengers to the Rothschild palace and not enough to a lookout.'

This helicopter disappeared off radar at 12pm today whilst flying over Waddesdon 15 minutes after it took off from Wycombe Air Park, which has confirmed its aircraft were involved

This Cessna 152 took off from the same airfield around the same time as the helicopter

This was the scene at the airfield where the planes took off this afternoon. A helicopter similar to that feared to have been involved in the crash remains on the ground

How did the mid-air crash happen? The helicopter, a 2017 French-built Guimbal Cabri G2, took off for its second flight for the day from High Wycombe at 11.47 am. According to data from Flight Radar 24, the aircraft had earlier successfully completed a 30-minute flight. The aircraft took off and routed north over the Chiltern Hills Area of Natural Beauty. Within five minutes it was flying at 1,025 feet at 60kts approaching Princes Risborough. The helicopter, a 2017 French-built Guimbal Cabri G2, took off for its second flight for the day from High Wycombe at 11.47 am The helicopter, which can carry two people, continued towards Waddesdon. At 12 noon the aircraft was last seen at 1,025 feet to the east of Upper Winchendon. Three minutes before the crash, a Cessna 152 which was built in 1982, was north west of Princes Risborough at 2,800 feet and travelling at around 70kts. The flight tracking radar did not record the Cessna leaving Wycombe Park Aerodrome, although it is believed it departed shortly after the helicopter. One minute before impact, the Cessna is believed to have increased its altitude to 3,700 feet, but it its final radar return moments before the accident showed it dropped down to below 2,800 feet. Flight crash investigators will want to determine how an aircraft apparently 1,700 feet above the helicopter shortly before the crash could have been ended up being involved in a collision. Like the helicopter, the Cessna was also on its second flight of the day. Advertisement

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: 'Officers are currently at the scene of an air accident near the village of Waddesdon near Aylesbury.

'The force is coordinating the response to the incident which was reported at 12.06pm today.

'The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been informed and staff are en-route to the scene. Fire and ambulance services are also in attendance and preservation of life is first priority.

'In consequence of this incident it is expected that there will be some disruption to the road network around Waddesdon for the rest of the day.'

The spokesman later added: 'We're aware of a number of casualties following an incident this afternoon in Waddesdon, Aylesbury.

'There were a number of road closures following the incident, which have now been lifted. We will provide further updates when available.'

Police vehicles surrounded the scene this afternoon as the investigation got underway

Fire crews and rescue workers raced to the scene after the first reports of the crash came in

An air ambulance landed on a nearby field although it is not thought anyone went to hospital

Aerial footage shows police activity in woodland set back not far from a local road

A spokesman for the AAIB said a the time of the crash: 'The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is sending a team to investigate a mid-air collision involving an aircraft and a helicopter near Aylesbury.'

RAF Halton, which is around 10 miles away, said no military aircraft had been involved.

A spokesman said: 'We can confirm that neither of the aircraft concerned has a connection with either our air force nor the military, and this is as much as we know at this time.'