Pilot dies in mail plane crash

A pilot was killed and his co-pilot seriously injured last night when a Vickers Viscount airliner flying from Edinburgh to Coventry crashed in blizzard conditions near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

Minutes before the crash, a Mayday message had been sent out saying that three of the aircraft's four engines had iced up. The aircraft, which was sub-contracted to the Royal Mail, was believed to have been carrying parcels. Rescue services attending the scene of the crash, close to the village of Stowe by Chartley, were hampered by appalling weather conditions. Two RAF helicopters and two mountain rescue teams were sent to help police and ambulance services.