B-52 bomber plane part lands in Warwickshire garden

  • Published
Aircraft partImage source, Shipston on Stour Police
Image caption,

The wing-tip gear door fell from the plane and landed in a garden

Part of an American bomber plane fell off and landed in a garden after it took off from a British RAF base.

The B-52 bomber was on a routine training mission from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Wednesday when the wing-tip gear door fell from the plane over Warwickshire.

Military personnel retrieved the part and the US Air Force confirmed a safety investigation was being carried out.

Police from nearby Shipston on Stour said it "was lucky" no-one was injured.

PCSO Emma Turner said the plane part landed in a garden in Brailes in Warwickshire.

"I spoke with the resident whose garden it landed in and she said all she heard was a thud. She didn't see it fall from the sky," she said.

"She said she looked out and saw something shiny out in the garden which she thought was part of a plane.

"It's very unusual. Luckily no-one had been hurt or injured, which was our main concern."

She said officers spoke with other residents "to see if any more bits had been found in nearby gardens but there wasn't anything there".

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The B-52 bomber - not pictured - was on a routine training mission

The US Air Force said the gear door fell from a B-52 Stratofortress "during a routine training mission" at about 17:00 BST on Wednesday.

It added: "The part landed in a local national's garden and was retrieved by 2nd Bomb Wing personnel, in partnership with the UK Ministry of Defence Police.

"A safety investigation is being conducted, as is the standard with these types of events."

Members of the 2nd Bomb Wing are currently deployed to RAF Fairford from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, as part of the Bomber Task Force.

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