Shocked relatives today told of their anguish over the loss of two members of their family in yesterday's North Yorkshire plane crash.

Larry Davitt (front, second right) and his wife Nellie (front, second left) with their family of five sons and two daughters including Gerry (centre back) who piloted the light aircraft in which his father and two others were killed

Hero schoolboy Joe Davitt's father Gerry Davitt, 42, of Naburn, and his grandfather Laurence Davitt, 67, of Irwin Avenue, Heworth, York, were both killed in the tragedy.

They were among four people who died instantly when the Mooney 201 light aircraft plunged into a field at Hemingbrough, near Selby. The other victims have been named as Paul Blackburn, of Grange Avenue, Spofforth, and Kenneth Moore, 51, of Harrogate. The privately-owned four-seater plane was travelling from Sherburn Aero Club to a small airfield near Rotterdam when the accident happened.

The wreckage of the plane was today removed from the field where it crashed.

The remains of the aircraft today had to be cut into three to be lifted on to a lorry by a mini crane.

Only a few yards away three police officers and an inspector from the Air Investigation Branch of the Department of Environment used spades and trowels as they conducted a finger-tip search for any missing parts.

The wreckage was today taken by lorry to Farnborough, the Ministry of Defence's research and defence evaluation agency in Hampshire.

A police spokesman said a specialist pathologist working for the Air Investigation Branch had attended the crash scene today, and was now carrying out post mortems in York.

As the investigation into the cause of the tragedy continued, shattered relatives of Gerry Davitt were asking: how could it have happened again?

For the crash came only three years after another mid-air crisis in which Gerry's plane lost half of its landing gear at a spot close to yesterday's accident.

On that occasion, Joe, then aged 11, took over the controls of his father's plane so that Gerry could tell passengers how to prepare for an emergency landing - later carried out safely -and Joe's coolness later won him a Child of Courage award.

Today Gerry's cousin Terry Ruane said: "Why did it happen a second time? Lightning doesn't strike twice. It shouldn't happen twice." He said Joe, like the whole family, was utterly devastated by the tragedy. "Everyone is just shocked."

Gerry, who ran his own business in Bradford, Side Curtain Centre, leaves a widow Christine and three children, Joe, Lee and Pippa. Fellow fliers at the aero club, which has 650 members, have also been stunned.

Club chairman, Barry Softley, said: "We're all totally devastated and lost for words. Our hearts go out to the relatives, and we'll do whatever we can to support them."

He said two of the men - Gerry and Kenneth Moore - were very experienced pilots and members of the Sherburn club.

"They trained with us and were friends," said Mr Softley.

"The trip to Holland is one undertaken quite often by members, and normally takes about three hours. They would have only been in the air a few minutes and starting to climb up through cloud when it came down, but at this stage we just don't know what happened."

Club member and freelance lighting and cameraman Keith Massey, who filmed a TV reconstruction of Joe's mid-air heroics three years ago, today paid tribute to Mr Davitt, and said it was a very sad day for everyone at the club.

He said Mr Davitt lived for York City Football Club, where he was a season ticket holder, and also for his flying at Sherburn.

The club said today that the plane's take-off had been perfectly normal. Experts said a fuel problem could have caused engine difficulties.

Experts rush to the scene

by David Wiles

Air accident investigators were today continuing to examine the wreckage of the light aircraft that crashed near Selby yesterday.

The specialists, from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' Air Accident Investigation branch, rushed to the scene yesterday afternoon to try to piece together the events leading up to the crash.

Sherburn Aero Club chairman, Barry Softley, said he estimated the Mooney 201 single-engine aircraft was flying at a speed of about 150 mph at an altitude of about 1,500ft when it got into difficulties over Hemingbrough.

He said the four men were on their way to Texel, a small airfield near Rotterdam, in the privately-owned four-seater plane when the tragedy happened.

Mr Softley said two of the men - Gerry Davitt and Kenneth Moore - were very experienced pilots and members of the Sherburn club.

North Yorkshire Police's own accident specialists started their own investigation earlier in the day, looking at the wreckage for clues to the tragedy.

The two-man DETR team, based in Farnborough, will comb the sealed-off area about half-a-mile north of the A63.

A spokesman said the team, whose members are experienced engineers and former pilots, would carry out a total investigation covering all aspects of the crash.

"They will use every bit of information and evidence they can get their hands on to try to find out what caused the accident," he said.

"They will collect together every piece of the wreckage, identify it and where it was found in relation to the other pieces, labelling them for further investigation."

Records on the aircraft from the Sherburn Aero Club would be examined, and eyewitnesses quizzed on what they saw prior to the crash.

An eyewitness told the Evening Press yesterday that he heard the aircraft's engine cut out before it fell spinning out of the sky.

The wreckage of the plane, of which the front two-thirds were destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, may be taken back to the Farnborough base where it would be painstakingly dismantled, examined, and then reassembled.

A report will then be compiled, a process which the spokesman said may take months.

The air accident investigators, from the same team as those who pieced together the wreckage of the 747 brought down over Lockerbie ten years ago, are on 15 minutes notice to fly anywhere in the world in the event of a crash.

Club's tribute to fan who had 'York City in his heart'

by Tony Kelly

Shocked youth team stalwarts at York City today paid tribute to fervent supporter Gerry Davitt, who died in the Selby air crash.

City youth team coach Paul Stancliffe said the club had lost a "big fan", while John Stockton, who helps to run three of the club's junior sides, said the club was poorer for his death.

Mr Davitt sponsored several youth teams at Bootham Crescent, including this season's intermediates, who enjoyed a marvellous run to the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup.

Mr Stancliffe said: "It wasn't just a question of putting money in. Gerry always showed a big interest in all the teams and attended as many games as he could.

"He was a massive supporter of the club and York City have lost a big fan and a good friend to a lot of people down here. All our sympathies go to his wife, his children and his family."

Mr Stockton was a close friend of businessman Mr Davitt, whom he accompanied on several of his flying trips to City away games.

Mr Stockton said: "He had York City in his heart without a shadow of a doubt.

"He was a great supporter of the youth teams from the centre of excellence through to the intermediates. He just wanted the club to do well at everything.

"His greatest ambition was to get on the board of directors and he was chuffed when he bought some shares. He is a big loss to York City." Soon after he accepted an invitation to invest in the club last autumn Mr Davitt, who once had trials at Nottingham Forest as a goalkeeper when he was a teenager, championed a drive to improve City's fundraising potential and to forge strong links with the city's York Wasps rugby league team who he also followed.

He envisaged the two clubs being based at City's Bootham Crescent ground, declaring: "Surely it would be great to have something like a 16,000 all-seater stadium with a First Division football club and a Super League rugby club."

Of City's potential as a club he added: "The team has done well considering the other clubs who have got mega-bucks behind them.

"But what about clubs like Norwich, Bradford City and Bury. They are cities no bigger than us. If they can do it, then we can damned well do it if we give it a go."

see COMMENT 'York's great loss in the sky'

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