Two former motor racing champions were the among the five occupants of a private aircraft who died yesterday afternoon when it crashed into a housing estate “in a ball of fire”.

David Leslie, 54, and Richard Lloyd, 63, were aboard the Cessna Citation when it suffered engine failure minutes after taking off from Biggin Hill airport in Kent. One of the two pilots aboard the aircraft, which was bound for France on a business trip, was named last night as Mike Roberts.

The plane’s pilot was hailed as a hero by witnesses who said that he attempted to steer the aircraft away from footballers on a playing field and nearby houses.

The ensuing blaze all but demolished one home and seriously damaged a neighbouring detached property in Farnborough. The owners of the destroyed house, Edward and Patricia Harman, 72 and 68, were away on separate holidays. Mrs Harman arrived at the scene hours later, saying: “Oh my God, the house, not the house,” before being ushered away by relatives.

Two people in a neighbouring property were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.

Mr Lloyd, a former British Saloon Car champion who was the founder of several sports car and touring teams, was on his way to the south of France to continue his work developing a Jaguar team for the FIA GT3 championships. Mr Leslie, a racing car veteran who was also a well-known commentator on Eurosport, had been drafted in to help to set up the cars.Last night concerns were raised about the safety of private jets flying out of Biggin Hill and other British airports. The Kent airport is due to undergo a £100 million renovation this year that could increase the number of aircraft using the base from 15,000 to 125,000 a year.

One resident in Farnborough said yesterday that there had been concerns among neighbours “for years” about the aircraft from Biggin Hill flying low over houses.

Just before 2.40pm, witnesses reported seeing the jet lose altitude before crashing “with a roar” into two houses. Emergency services scrambled to the scene as black smoke billowed out of the wreckage.

Moments before the crash the captain sent a mayday message to the control tower saying that he was experiencing “severe engine vibrations”.

Another pilot who heard the radio communication said that the tower gave him priority to land. “A few seconds later he came back over the radio and said, ‘We’re going in, we’re going in’ and the radio stayed live. The plane just nosedived out of the sky. The radio went dead and black smoke came up.”

Gary Walcraft, 16, was playing football in a playing field adjoining the housing estate when he saw the aircraft come down. He described how the pilot had tried to land in the field before pulling up when he saw about 20 people playing football.

“The plane was coming down with its landing gear down as if to make an emergency landing on the field,” he said. “I could see someone in the plane waving frantically out of the window at us to get out of the way.

“But at the last second the pilot pulled up somehow and gained some height. He was trying to avoid hitting us but then he clipped some trees and smashed into the house.”

Ashley Cheesman, a resident who lives 300 yards from the scene of the accident, praised the pilot’s bravery in steering the aircraft towards the woods.

“He obviously made a judgment call,” he said. “He did everything he could to keep that plane away from people. He made the right decision, whatever was going through his mind.

“He obviously knew the lie of the land; he kept hugging the woods. He was trying to avoid the houses.”

Jason Morrell, another witness, said that the plane was so low he “could see the people sitting on the plane panicking at the windows”.

He added: “I could see it going into the houses. The woman next door to where the plane landed was hysterical. Her father had collapsed. We managed to drag him away from the scene.”

Andrew Walters, chief executive of Regional Airports, which operates Biggin Hill, said the pilot experienced difficulty after taking off from the airport and requested permission to return.

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