Police today removed the bodies of the two pilots who died when a private aircraft crashed into a housing estate.

Michael Roberts, 63, and Michael Chapman, 57, were flying the Cessna Citation aircraft when it suffered engine failure minutes after taking off from Biggin Hill airport in Kent.

Three passengers also died when the jet crashed into two nearby houses. The bodies of David Leslie, 54, Richard Lloyd, 63, and Christopher Allarton, 25, will be removed from the scene tonight, police said.

Mr Roberts was hailed as a hero by witnesses who said that he attempted to steer the aircraft away from footballers on a playing field.

He was flying Mr Lloyd, a former British Saloon Car champion and boss of Apex Motorsport, to the south of France, when the accident happened.

Also on the plane were were Mr Leslie, an experienced touring car driver who won nine races in a 13-year career and Mr Allarton, a race data analyst who only joined the Apex Jaguar team 12 days ago.

The men were travelling to the Nogaro circuit in Gars, where Mr Leslie was to have helped set up Apex’s Jaguar car up for its opening race in the FIA GT3 championships at Silverstone later this month.

One home in Farnborough was destroyed by the jet “in a ball of fire”. But no-one on the ground was injured as the couple who lived there were away on holiday.

Chief Superintendent Charles Griggs, Bromley Borough Commander for the Metropolitan Police said he hoped to move families back into their houses tonight.

He said: “It is a difficult and not very pleasant operating environment. We expect to be able to clear the site before it gets dark this evening.

“We’re so lucky that the pilot was able to avert mass casualties.”

The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) will now try to determine what caused the accident. After talking to eyewitnesses and listening to air-traffic control messages, the six investigators will transport the plane piece by piece to the AAIB’s headquarters in Farnborough, Hampshire.

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