Two teenage air cadets, who were also cousins, have been killed alongside their RAF instructors in a mid-air plane collision in South Wales.
The girls and their tutors died when the two aircraft they were in crashed above sand dunes near Porthcawl.
It is thought the twin-seater Grob Tutor planes clipped each other's wings.
The accident happened less than half an hour after the group set off on a round trip from nearby RAF St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The "flight experience" was designed to give the girls a taste of being in a light aircraft.
The planes came down at two separate sites, with at least one of them on fire, South Wales Police said.
"Four members of the RAF family have tragically lost their lives following an accident which took place near Porthcawl," RAF Group Captain Andy Naismith said.
"Those who died were two members of the RAF and two Air Training Corps cadets.
"The next of kin have all been informed and the families have requested a period of 24 hours' grace before naming takes place to let them absorb and come to terms with this devastating news."
Debris from the wreckage was strewn across a wide area. Members of the public have been urged not to pick it up.
Jeff Tildesley, deputy mayor of Bridgend Council, said he understood the two aircraft clipped wings, and that one occupant ejected before the crash.
Mr Tildesley, one of the first on the scene after the crash, said: "The loss of life is a tragedy. Our hearts go out to the relatives of those involved."
A full investigation has been launched by the Air Accidents Investigation Board, South Wales Police and the Ministry of Defence.
source: skynews
The girls and their tutors died when the two aircraft they were in crashed above sand dunes near Porthcawl.
It is thought the twin-seater Grob Tutor planes clipped each other's wings.
The accident happened less than half an hour after the group set off on a round trip from nearby RAF St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The "flight experience" was designed to give the girls a taste of being in a light aircraft.
The planes came down at two separate sites, with at least one of them on fire, South Wales Police said.
"Four members of the RAF family have tragically lost their lives following an accident which took place near Porthcawl," RAF Group Captain Andy Naismith said.
"Those who died were two members of the RAF and two Air Training Corps cadets.
"The next of kin have all been informed and the families have requested a period of 24 hours' grace before naming takes place to let them absorb and come to terms with this devastating news."
Debris from the wreckage was strewn across a wide area. Members of the public have been urged not to pick it up.
Jeff Tildesley, deputy mayor of Bridgend Council, said he understood the two aircraft clipped wings, and that one occupant ejected before the crash.
Mr Tildesley, one of the first on the scene after the crash, said: "The loss of life is a tragedy. Our hearts go out to the relatives of those involved."
A full investigation has been launched by the Air Accidents Investigation Board, South Wales Police and the Ministry of Defence.
source: skynews
