Jenna Hawkey
BBC News Online

A light aircraft crashed in Devon after its engine stopped suddenly, leaving the 80-year-old pilot with serious injuries, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has said, external.

The homebuilt Rutan Long-Ez had taken off from Biggin Hill airport in London, and was about to land at Dunkeswell Airfield when the plane lost power just after 11:30 on 7 July.

The pilot could not reach the runway and was gliding the plane in to land in a field when, at the last minute, he noticed a fence running across his path.

Image source, AAIB

As he swerved to avoid the fence, the aircraft hit the ground firmly, destroying the plane and leaving the pilot with serious injuries. His passenger suffered minor injuries.

The investigation concluded that the loss of power was most likely caused by the carburetor icing up or fuel vapour in the aircraft's fuel supply.

The AAIB said the pilot had used a type of fuel that the aircraft was not authorised to use, which may have led to the fuel problems, and had also failed to slow the high rate of descent sufficiently.

An "obsessed" former Royal Navy helicopter pilot is in court accused of stalking a company director.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

Newquay's Pentire Headland has received some surprise visitors this winter in the shape of a small number of short-eared owls that have flown in from the Arctic.

Enthusiast Nigel Dawes said: "The headland is a virtual larder for these wonderful birds that have drawn photographers from many parts to catch them".

Image source, Nigel Dawes

Image source, Nigel Dawes

Sarah Ransome
BBC Radio 5 live

A vicar local to the Exeter murder scenes has told me prayers will be said for the elderly victims at a service on Friday.

The Reverend David Nixon from St Thomas Church on Cowick Street said "there is shock and disbelief here" after three men in their 80s were found violently killed at two separate houses in the city on Monday and Tuesday.

Image source, Google

"There is a service tomorrow at 12:00 when prayers will be said for them. It'd ironic that we're talking about these tragic deaths on Valentine's Day because the church's message is that love matters," he said.

He added that the church is open in daylight hours when people are welcome to come and light a candle in memory of the victims.

Johanna Carr
BBC News Online

A long-standing friend of one of the three elderly men murdered in Exeter has told me he feels "gutted" and the matter is a "crying shame".

Martyn Liddon, who runs Men in Sheds, an Exeter-based charity, said he got to know twin Dick Carter by talking to him while they were on buses together and knew him for between 20 and 30 years.

Mr Carter and his twin brother Roger, 84, were found dead on Tuesday following the discovery of an 80-year-old man at a house a mile away on Monday.

Mr Liddon, 76, said he believed neither of them men had married and used to run a grocer's on Cowick Street before running a mushroom-growing business.

"It's just a crying shame. Personally I feel gutted," he said.

"When I heard about it I had tears in my eyes, I was totally gutted because they wouldn't have done anything to harm anybody.

"I can't get my head around it. They were both funny; they were both funny guys. They were recluses and kept themselves to themselves but (I knew Dick) because I spent the time to have a chat with him."

A 27-year-old is being questioned by police in connection with the deaths.

The expected increases come as many local authorities plan to cut spending, research suggests.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A woman was seriously injured while trying to board a hot air balloon in Cornwall, a report has found.

The passenger fell off the basket onto the ground and broke her arm while trying to get on the commercial flight near Launceston with 12 other passengers in May 2018.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report, external said the woman "appears to have had some difficulty climbing over the edge of the basket into her assigned compartment and subsequently lost her grip and fell to the ground".

The investigation into the Cameron A-300 hot air balloon flight noted that some passengers felt hurried to get on board quickly by the operator.

The AAIB said the operator "now briefs passengers to take extra care when climbing in or out of the basket and offers boarding before inflation for those they consider would benefit".

Image source, AAIB

It issued a diagram showing the left compartment of the basket the woman was trying to climb into, using foot holes.

BBC Spotlight

Ex Royal Marine Lee Spencer lost his leg trying to help someone who crashed on a motorway.

Now, the Devon man is 36 days into an attempt to row across the Atlantic solo.

He says messages of support are driving him on to complete the challenge, and raise money for military charities.

Hector has received hundreds of offers from all over the world but is still looking for a family.

Adrian Campbell, Environment Correspondent
BBC Spotlight

An electronic pinger that warns trawlers about where nets and lobster pots have been laid is being tested in the seas around Cornwall.

It is designed to stop boats running over lines and pots - leading to them being lost - and becoming plastic pollution.

The technology was developed in America and is used by the Blue Marine Foundation who say it could save money and help the environment.

Devon Live

A man, dressed as a devil has been running around Exeter City Centre handing out roses to complete strangers, external for Valentine's Day.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A motorcyclist who was seriously injured after crashing into railings in Sidmouth was a local man and in his 30s, police have said.

It happened at about 22:45 on Wednesday on Woolbrook Road.

The Yamaha R1 rider was taken to hospital by ambulance with serious leg injuries, officers said.

No other vehicles were believed to have been involved.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

Police have been granted an additional 36 hours to question a 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder following three deaths in Exeter.

The bodies of two 84-year-olds, named locally as Dick and Roger Carter, were found in the city on Tuesday, a day after the body of an 80-year-old man was discovered.

Twitter

Free-agent Forward Joe Mason will not return to Plymouth Argyle after turning down an offer to rejoin his former club.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

The Donkey Sanctuary's headquarters in Sidmouth is reopening after it was closed due to an equine flu outbreak.

The rescue charity closed its five public centres in England on Monday as a "precautionary" move and said none of its resident donkeys had been affected by the outbreak.

A spokesperson said: "Footpaths around the charity's New Arrivals Unit will be closed, including The Maze, Cottage Barn and the Poitou Barn".

"Visitors are not at risk from equine influenza, but they can be transmitters of the virus which is why we're encouraging them to be bio-secure by providing foot dips and hand sanitisers for them to use," they added.

Johanna Carr
BBC News Online

Police officers are still guarding the Bonhay Road address which has a white crime scene tent erected in front of the door.

The tent has yellow tape strung around it with the words "crime scene do not enter" on it.

Earlier the street, which has a number of nearby student accommodation blocks, was shrouded in mist but the sun is now burning it off.

A man was found dead at this address, and two other men were found dead at a house in Cowick Lane, about 1.5 miles (2.4km) away.

One student told me they have been shocked by what had happened.

Another passerby described the man's death as a "sad state of affairs".

She said she hoped the truth would be found out and added that she had seen the man from time to time to say hello to in the street.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A road in south-east Cornwall is blocked by a serious accident involving a cattle trailer between Liskeard Road (Callington) and Newbridge Bridge.

There is a diversion in place via the A388.

Sarah Ransome
BBC Radio 5 live

Detectives are continuing to question a man held on suspicion of murder afterthree elderly men were violently killed in their homes just a mile apart in Exeter.

The bodies of twins Dick and Roger Carter, 84, and an 80-year-old man were found less than 24 hours apart on Monday and Tuesday.

The deaths have been linked due to the "level of violence used", according to Devon and Cornwall Police, who launched a triple murder inquiry.

A 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday remains in custody.

More floral tributes have been left on Cowick Lane.

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