Police say man in his 50s was found dead at the scene in Belchamp Walter, near Suffolk

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A man in his 50s has died after a small plane crashed in a field in Belchamp Walter in Essex, police have said.

Emergency services were called to the village near the border with Suffolk just before noon on Sunday after reports that a light aircraft had come down in a field.

Essex police said five fire engines from the county and another three from Suffolk were sent to the crash site, which is about five miles from Ridgewell airfield, the home of Essex gliding club.

Essex county fire and rescue service said the plane, which had landed in an arable field, was on fire when they arrived.

The man, who was reportedly the pilot, was pronounced dead at the scene at about noon on Sunday. There were no reports of other casualties and the fire was extinguished in just under an hour.

A resident told the Essex Live news site they saw fumes and smoke over the field, which they initially thought were coming from a bonfire. An Essex police spokesman said the victim’s next of kin had been informed.

“We were called to reports of a light aircraft in distress at Belchamp Walter just before 11.50am on 3 February,” the force said. “Officers attended and, sadly, a man aged in his 50s was pronounced dead at the scene.”

It was not immediately clear where the plane had taken off from and where it was intending to land. A spokesman for Essex gliding club said it was “very unlikely” the victim was one of its members as the club does not operate from the site in winter.

“So far, we haven’t been contacted by police or emergency services,” the spokesman said on Sunday evening.

Police have set up a cordon and uniformed officers are at the entrance points to the field where the crash happened, according to Jane Walker, the chair of Belchamp Walter parish council.

The area is largely farmland with scattered woods. Walker, who saw an air ambulance land at the site, said: “It is really out of the usual and I think it took a lot of people out of the blue. Our feelings go out to the poor man who has died and his family. Our condolences are with them.”

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch spokesman said it is “aware of an incident and have deployed a team”.

Essex police said: “We will be maintaining a presence at the scene over the coming days to assist the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in their inquiries.”