Ice was likely cause of plane's power loss before crash

Part of a light aircraft's engine iced up before the machine suffered a loss of power and crashed, accident investigators have said.

A pilot, who had only intended to be a passenger on the flight, took over the controls and attempted to glide the plane to a runway at Prestwick Airport.

But the plane crashed about a mile away at Monkton and hit a tree.

Those onboard, two men aged 65 and 75, were seriously injured in the incident in April.

In a new report, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was likely ice affected the aircraft's carburettor and caused the engine to stop.

This resulted in a forced landing.

The 75-year-old man had taken the aircraft on a short flight to meet his flying club's rules on time spent flying.

He was accompanied by the other pilot, the 65-year-old man, because he did not want to fly solo due to a medical condition.

The report said this other pilot decided to take control of the aircraft when it got into difficulty because he believed the engine issue had gone unnoticed.

He attempted to put the plane into a glide and guide it to a runway at Prestwick.

But control was lost when a wing hit a tree and the aircraft crashed nose down.

Investigators said the plane bounced and fell backwards.

Part of its tail became entangled in a barbed wire fence and one of the wings broke off.

After the alarm was raised, the crew of an Airbus A320 passenger aircraft spotted the crash site.

A coastguard helicopter and emergency services were sent to the scene.

Both pilots were flown to the major trauma unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.