A WILTSHIRE pilot died after a light aircraft crashed while carrying people preparing for a parachute jump.

The single-engine Cessna 206 nose-dived into a field near Honiton, Devon, on Sunday night after earlier taking off from nearby Dunkeswell airfield.

Two men and a woman, including a father and daughter, died on impact, and a third man was pronounced dead at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

The identities of the deceased have not yet been confirmed. Their names are expected to be released later today.

It has emerged that the passengers may not have been wearing seatbelts as they were preparing for a jump.

Two people, a 23-year-old man from Taunton, Somerset, and a 16-year-old boy from Kingsteignton, south Devon, remain in hospital with serious injuries.

Crash investigators are keen to talk to them in the hope they can help shed light on why the flight went so tragically wrong.

Police guarded the crash site, near Hawkridge Common between Beacon and Luppitt, overnight and the examination by Air Accidents Investigation Branch inspectors got underway yesterday.

Retired police officer Eric Franklin, 66, described seeing the aircraft flying low over his farmhouse in the village of Beacon.

He said: "We're used to light aircraft coming round this way, but this particular one was noticeable because the engine sounded very, very rough.

"It was lower than normal, but we've had others that low. Because it seemed to be cutting out and spluttering, I said to my son, 'He'll be lucky to get to Dunkeswell'.

"He went on and disappeared behind the trees, and I didn't hear anything more."

The plane was registered to an address in Surrey.

Alex Emery