By Bryan Kay

A TORNADO F3 from RAF Leuchars crashed into the sea near St Andrews minutes after take-off yesterday evening.

The pilot and navigator were rescued by helicopter and taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. One had a minor leg injury and the other was not thought to have been hurt.

The plane from 111 (F) Squadron went down at about 5.45pm in St Andrews Bay after running into difficulties just five minutes after taking off.

The crash is under investigation but Forth Coastguard reported that the weather was moderate with good visibility.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said, “A few minutes after take-off air traffic control lost contact with the jet and a member of the public reported having seen a jet falling into the sea, north east of West Sands.

“A search and rescue operation co-ordinated by ARCC (Air Rescue Co-ordination Centre) Kinloss and MRCC (Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre) Forth was launched.

“The two crew were located, both conscious, and taken to Ninewells Hospital. Their injuries are not thought to be life threatening.”

Last night the two men were still in Ninewells but if they had suffered any serious injury they could be taken to a spinal unit in Nottingham.

RAF spokesman in Scotland Michael Mulford said, “They took off at 5.45pm and climbed into the skies above Leuchars and air traffic lost them.

“They would have travelled about 10 miles and their flight would have lasted about two minutes before they came down, going at about 500mph.

“Once you eject your parachute opens and you land in the sea still in your seat, which becomes your dinghy, and has a distress beacon attached.

“That’s how they are located. They were in Ninewells Hospital an hour after ditching—that’s a textbook rescue, I can tell you.”

The rescue involved two helicopters and the Broughty Ferry and Arbroath lifeboats.

The Broughty Ferry lifeboat crew was first to find the plane’s occupants—about one mile from where the Tornado went down.

Coxswain Jim Hughan said his team ensured the occupants were okay before standing by while the crewmen were winched to safety.

“We got there just a fraction before the helicopter arrived. We waited while they were winched from their dinghies,” he said.

“We said we would take them ashore but they wanted to take them by helicopter because there’s always a danger of spinal injuries when ejecting from an aircraft and they have all the equipment on board.

“We talked to the second one from the plane while the helicopter winched the other one and he gave us the thumbs-up.

“He was okay but he was fairly shaken, as you would expect.”

A maritime exclusion zone is in place around the crash scene.

The Broughty Ferry Lifeboat crew said there was a thick smell of fuel in the air and they were ordered away from the crash site due to fears of an explosion.

Mr Mulford said a specialist RAF recovery team from Wales is to travel north to recover the wreckage of the £20 million fighter plane from the sea.

“We know exactly where it is. We have access to rescue beacons so we know it’s there,” he said.

“The airmen are still in hospital being checked and will be there for some time yet.

“We don’t know if they will be moved to Nottingham to a specialist spinal unit, it depends if they have any problems from the ejection from the aircraft.

“As for the cause, there are many possibilities as to what went wrong. Whatever happened, it happened pretty quickly after take-off.

“The crew are trained to do whatever they can to save the aircraft but they obviously had no option but to eject.”

The RAF Board of Inquiry will meet next week to investigate the accident—pilot error, mechanical or electrical malfunction, fire on board or bird strike are all possible causes.