Hampshire plane crash: Boy critically ill in hospital following crash that killed both his parents

Aviation experts said the pilot of the plane was attempting an emergency landing

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A six-year-old boy is critically ill in hospital following a light aircraft crash that claimed the lives of both his parents.

George Tonkinson suffered multiple injuries when the plane reportedly hit woodland during bad weather on Saturday 3 January.

Paramedics, several fire crews and police rushed to the crash site after a walker found the light aircraft wreckage in Blackwood Forest, near the airstrip which is close to Micheldever, Hampshire.

George was flown by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital's specialist neurological unit.

Advertising agency director Lewis Tonkinson, who turned 50 on New Year's Day, and his wife Sally, 44, from Alcester in Warwickshire, were pronounced dead at the scene.

A statement on Popham’s AirBourne Aviation Facebook page said: “Following the tragic accident at Popham on Saturday afternoon, everyone here at Popham Airfield, together with the wider aviation community, would like to offer our sincere condolences to the friends and family of Lewis and Sally Tonkinson.

“We are all very shocked and sad at this awful tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with their young son George.”

Aviation experts said the pilot of the plane, believed to have been the boy's father, was attempting an emergency landing on a grass airstrip because flying conditions had become treacherous.

The family had taken off in the light plane from Bembridge on the Isle of Wight on Saturday afternoon and were flying home to Warwickshire.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now leading a full investigation into the incident.

A spokesman said that its report would be published soon.