18/06/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

The passengers of the private aircraft that crashed in Gudrnsey

had a miraculous escape, according to the boss of Guernsey Airport

Their UK registered light aircraft crashed into greenhouses

Tonight, investigations are underway to establish what went wrong.

Sitting just a quarter of a mile from the airport runway,

this was not the planned final destination for this plane.

At around 5pm yesterday aftdrnoon, shortly after taking off from

Guernsey airport, the light aircraft crash landed into these grednhouses.

At first I thought it was a lorry that had lost a load of met`l on the

road. That is what it sounddd like. It was one heck of a bang.

It's not yet known if the private plane had

a technical fault and was trying to return to the airport, or if it came

down suddenly during take`off, but the airport director saxs the

two passengers onboard ` John and Lynda Shaw ` had a lucky escape

Having seen the site and thd way the are aircraft ended up perchdd

between a tree and a greenhouse think they were very fortun`te. Both

the tree and greenhouse brotght the aircraft to a gradual stop, rather

than a sudden stop. Certainly, a very difficult side, diffictlt for

them to escape, but the fact that they walked away is miraculous.

Fire crews have removed the fuel and the aircraft will be taken

The results of the investigation could take six

months to a year before we know what caused this crash.

An inquest in Jersey today heard how a man was found dead in his

home approximately six months after he was thought to have coll`psed.

The body of 62`year`old Richard Dix was found in such a state

of decompostion, his cause of death was unable to be determined.

Richard Dix lived here in Gorey village and had suffered

from an addiction to alcohol for over 30 years.

He was well known to both social services and Jersey police,

who often found him asleep on the buses after drinking too much.

A neighbour confirmed that she had last seen him in August 2013,

stumbling up the stairs to his house, but didn't see hhm

It wasn't until January this year that the police were called to

They found his body in such a state of decomposhtion

that it was impossible to tdll how long he'd been there,

The court heard that it wasn't unusual for Mr Dix to disappear for

months at a time, to either serve a sentence at La Moye prison, or

time in hospital, so his nehghbours didn't notice his absence.

His sister Rosemary gave evhdence to say that she had spent her whole

life trying to help her brother s addiction, but in the end it got

"too much" for her, and she had to step away from the situation.

Passing an inconclusive verdict the corner heard that after

Richard Dix was diagnosed whth a brain tumour in 2010.

He had continued to drink and, in his last few years of life,

disconnected himself from the Social Services department,

and any other help he was rdceiving from local alcohol charities.

The pension age in Jersey whll rise from 65 to 67, after the St`tes

The government says the state pension fund will run out in the

next decade and the changes will be phased in over the next 17 xears.

Jersey's Attorney General h`s been appointed the next Deputy B`iliff

Tim le Cocq will move next xear when the current deputy Bailiff

Sport now, and jubilant scenes in Eastbourne

today as Guernsey's Heather Watson battled her way into the thhrd round

She beat the Italian Flavia Pennetta ` the first time she has be`ten

someone ranked in the world?s top 20.

Walking out on court as British number one, but world number 69

and facing the world number 12, Guernsey's Heather Watson h`d

The first points went to Watson but her serve was broken

And, when her opponent took the next, things weren't looking good.

Heather battled back into the game and, despite pushing

the first set to a tie break, it was the Italian who took it `6.

But the islander's coach had told her to be more aggressive,

so she came out fighting for the second set.

Heather Watson has levelled the match against

With the Eastbourne crowd behind her, Heather dominatdd the

third set, forcing errors from a frustrated Pennetta, and taking the

I have seen Flavia Pennetta play a lot on tour, but I have ndver had

She is a brilliant competitor, so I knew it was not going to be easy.

Even after a tight first set, I just kept on fighting.

After two wins in two days, Heather will have a little rest

Her performance today, beathng one of the world's top 20 players,

will boost her confidence and raise fans' hopes for a strong showing at

Well done, Heather. We are back at 7:30pm tomorrow. Good night.

Hello, good evening. We havd got more of the same over the ndxt few

days. Perhaps more in the w`y of sunshine tomorrow, but towards the

end of the day it might turn a bit misty. For most parts, this area of

high pressure will continue into the weekend and into next week.

Temperatures no lower than 02 degrees tonight, and long spells of

sunshine for much of tomorrow. There may be some low cloud or missed

appearing towards the end of the afternoon and into the evenhng, and

temperatures between 19 and 21 degrees. Into the weekend, we will

find more in the way of sunshine, certainly on Friday. Easterly winds

and temperatures getting back up to 22 degrees. It is slightly cooler

into the weekend. Winds frol the North or Northeast will draw in

slightly fresher conditions, but still a fine and dry story. The UV

level is up at six or seven, so strong sunshine at this timd of

year. And of course, the pollen count remains high. Good night.

remain dpy. op tem0er`tures of 2 Celsius. T`e outloo+ for t(e weakend

is looking pretty good.