Man Dies From Salford Plane Crash Injuries

One of two men injured in a plane crash in Salford on Friday has died.

The men suffered extensive burns after their light aircraft crashed between two semi-detatched houses on Newlands Avenue in Peel Green shortly after take-off and burst into flames.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said the 59-year-old pilot died this morning and his 19-year-old passenger remained in a critical condition in hospital.

No-one apart from the occupants of the aircraft, operated by Ravenair Flying School, was injured.

Mark Frimston, 25, a forklift truck driver who lives in a nearby block of flats, said: "I heard a bang, like a gas explosion.

"It was as if a bomb went off - my baby started crying because it scared him.

"We could hear screaming, women screaming initially and then a man screaming in terror. I just panicked and ran downstairs.

"When I got outside I could see people running about and then when I got out of the front door there was loads of smoke in the air, you could taste it in your mouth.

"When I ran around the corner I could see the plane embedded in the side of a house.

"People were running to help and kicked the gate down to get into the garden where the plane had come down.''

John Kavanagh, 56, said his "blood turned cold'' as the explosion ripped through the area.

He added: "It felt like everything shook - the houses and cars - and then smoke rose up high into the sky.

"I thought it was a gas explosion.

"The people that survived this have had a miracle escape.''