DiamondGeezer

An RAF Tornado has crashed in Argyll, police have confirmed.

The plane is understood to have come down on a hillside near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot near Arrochar - two miles to the west of Loch Lomond.

The plane is believed to be from RAF Leuchars in Fife. No civilians are thought to have been hurt.

There are no details on the condition of the pilot and navigator. Strathclyde Police were alerted to the incident at about 1145 BST on Thursday.

An ambulance spokeswoman said two crews were at the scene.

A specialist operations team was also on its way.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that police were called at 11.45am to a report of a plane crash near the Rest and Be Thankful, Arrochar.

"Police are arriving at the scene."

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said its officers were also assisting in the operation.

A statement said: "Strathclyde Fire and Rescue's operations support centre received a call reporting that an aircraft, possibly an RAF Tornado, had crashed into the hillside near the A83 at Cairndow.

"Five fire appliances, two major incident units with heavy rescue equipment and a technical support unit to deal with any potential hazardous materials and to minimise any environmental impact were mobilised as a result.

"Strathclyde Fire and Rescue personnel are working alongside personnel from the RAF, the police and ambulance services to deal with this incident and to locate the occupants of the aircraft."

Sue Oliver, who works at Forest Holidays Campsite at Ardgarten, just past Arrochar, told the BBC that the crash happened just before midday.

She heard two planes flying overhead between 1130 and 1200 BST.

Ms Oliver said a short time later someone came in to the site and told her there had been a crash.

Frances Bremner from Cairndow, a village to the west of Arrochar, described how she heard jets overhead.

"From about 11am this morning we at Loch Fyne Oysters have listened to these jets flying over and over again," she said.

"My daughter at home saw two jets go over the back of our hill at Cairndow. One was very high but the second very low and she said she hoped it would make it over the hill as it was so low.

"This area is known to have these jets fly over and they do seem to fly very low but you assume they know what they are doing and how risky it is. I hope the crew had time to get out."

The Rest and Be Thankful is a tourist spot on the A83 Arrochar to Inveraray Road, north west of Loch Lomond.

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | RAF Tornado crashes in Scotland

hoppy

They are up there all the time.
When i go fishing at Loch Awe, they fly so low that you can see the colour of the pilot's eyes.
The locals have been taking bets for years at where one would come down..
They are supposed to fly at a min height of 200mtr but locals just laugh when you tell them that.
I hope there are no fatalities.....

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IANB

According to sky news the pilot and navigator where killed.
Their families have apparently been informed.

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emarald

Both pilots copped it I'm afraid

hamba

Seem to be a lot of air crashes lately.

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HibbyDave

Just thinking the same thing m8, we seem to go through these spells, the very reason the wife will not get on a plane now, tragic accident and my sympathies to their families.

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digidude

on tuesday i was on a roof of a house at the top end of brecon, with a view right down the winding valley towards cardiff, 2 jets came screaming over the top, lower than the tops of the mountains on each side, and winding their way down the valley before pulling up and off to one side

was hell of a sight, and a noise, and at the time i thought about one of them hitting the side due to how low they were

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hoppy

Ah, that's crap, my dads caravan is near the crash site and he was telling me there was wreckage everywhere..
He does his part time warden up in loch Awe and they have called them and locals out to search specific ares but he won't tell me what for..

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“A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fu***** cross?"

jaffa

They do fly very low but it is part of their job and they need to practice. I have a friend who is a RAF pilot, he loves it, its the adrenalin rush I guess.

Very sad they died, may they r.i.p.

@hamba, yeah your right m8, seems there have been quite a few lately.

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Baaheeduk

Strange for an F3 (Fighter) to be flying so low although they do need to do the training I suppose. Its usually the bombers (GR4) that do continual low level flight training.

I see them all the time as I just stay relatively close to Leuchars. The Typhoon (Eurofighter) will be based there from next year.

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