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Home / World

Crashed jet believed to belong to Bin Laden's family

Daily Telegraph UK
31 Jul, 2015 07:22 PM6 mins to read

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The Blackbushe Airport crash site. Photo / Sky News via the Daily Telegraph

The Blackbushe Airport crash site. Photo / Sky News via the Daily Telegraph

Four people have been killed when a private jet owned by Osama Bin Laden's family crashed in a fireball after overshooting a runway while trying to land outside London.

The £7million Embraer Phenom 300 was owned by Salem Aviation in Jeddah, which is controlled by the dead terrorist's family.

The Brazilian-built aircraft exploded after ploughing into a carpark killing the pilot and three passengers - believed to be members of the Bin Laden family.

The jet was completely destroyed after it overshot the runway while trying to land at the Blackbushe Airport on the Hampshire-Surrey border.

Emergency services raced to the scene shortly after 3pm when the aircraft crashed into an overflow car park attached to the British Car Auction.

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Osama Bin Laden's father Mohammed originally registered the tail number of the aircraft involved in today's crash in the 1960s.

The Saudi Red Sea trading port of Jeddah is the business HQ for the construction family's fabulously successful Saudi BinLadin Group (SBG).

The Bin Ladens made their money by gaining exclusive rights to all religious building projects under Saudi control in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Mohammed Bin Laden then branched out into lucrative civil projects.

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ALERT VIDEO Plane crash at Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire, England pic.twitter.com/RnDnrxfDvq

— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) July 31, 2015

#blackbushe this looks bad. Praying for anyone involved pic.twitter.com/7zZDV5q9mK

— abexp (@arranbushnell) July 31, 2015

More than a dozen Bin Laden brothers and half-brothers sit on the SBG board and help to run its operations from regional HQs across the Middle East.

SBG is estimated to be worth many billions of pounds.

number HZ-IBN crashed in the late 1967, however his family retained the registration.
The aircraft was registered to Salem Aviation - which was named after the dead terrorist's eldest brother, who himself died in a crash in 1988 when he ploughed into powerlines in San Antonio, Texas.

A spokesman for Blackbushe Airport said: 'A Phenom 300 Jet with four persons on board crashed near the end of the runway around 3.09 PM while attempting to make a landing.

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'The scene was attended by Blackbushe Fire & Rescue within minutes, followed by Hampshire Fire, Police and Ambulance units.

'Emergency services are currently controlling the scene.'

The South East Coast Ambulance Service sent out a tweet saying they have had reports of four casualties after the incident near Farnborough. The aircraft is understood to have been owned by a Saudi Arabian national. All staff and customers at the British Car Auction site escaped unharmed.

Acting chief inspector Olga Venner, of Hampshire Police, speaking from the scene, said: 'We can confirm that there were four people on board, including the pilot.

'Sadly, there were no survivors. No-one on the ground has been injured and we would urge anyone with any information, including pictures or videos, to contact 101.'

In a statement, an airport spokesman said: 'Blackbushe Airport confirmed that a Phenom 300 jet with four persons on board crashed near the end of the runway around 3.09pm while attempting to make a landing.

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'The scene was attended by Blackbushe Fire and Rescue within minutes, followed by Hampshire fire, police and ambulance units. Emergency services are currently controlling the scene.'

Robert Belcher, a local aviation enthusiast, said he was driving home when he saw a plume of black smoke coming from the site.

He said: 'I was passing the airport on my way home and there was a big column of smoke in the air.

'The fire service had closed the road behind me.

'I could see the plume of smoke waving from about five miles away and was hoping it was just a car fire rather than an aircraft accident.'

Mr Belcher said he was 'shocked' when he discovered that a jet had crashed.
He added: 'Apparently the aircraft was landing and just didn't stop.

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'At the end of the runway there is a car park because the airport is used for car auctions and it's gone into there.

'I assumed it was cars on fire in the auction yard.

'Local people have said that it was this aircraft which is registered in Saudi Arabia.
'It's been a regular visitor to the airport for a few months.'

Andrew Thomas, who was paying for a car at the time of impact, said the plane 'exploded'.

'I saw it when it had just happened, and could see the plane and cars in flames,' he told BBC Surrey.

'The plane nosedived into the cars and exploded on impact.

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Local resident Daphne Knowles, 70, told GetSurrey: 'I was in a field with the cattle and I heard an aircraft coming very very fast from behind me.

The engines were screaming far too much and the aircraft was trying to land - I'm a glider pilot and I thought it's far too low to the ground.

'Two people said they thought it had to swerve to miss another aircraft as it went in, but I didn't see that myself and can't confirm, then there was a huge black cloud of smoke which went up.'

Joe Ramos' was first alerted to the drama by his son and told how the plane suddenly crashed into parked cars at a neighbouring auction site.

THE EMBRAER PHENOM 300 JET

It is a light jet aircraft made by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer.
Standard models of the plane can hold eight occupants, including those in the cockpit. It can be adapted to carry up to 11 people.

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Its wingspan is 15.91m (52ft 2 inches), and length is 15.64m (51ft 4 inches).

The plane can reach 453 knots on high-speed cruise mode.
It can reach a maximum altitude of 45,000ft (13,716m).

The aircraft has a range of 3,650 km, approximately five hours of flight time.
Its landing distance is 799m (2,621ft)

Mr Ramos, who was working nearby, said: 'There was a loud bang and then my son quickly came in to the auction hall where the cashiers are, saying a plane had gone down.

'We quickly went back out only to see a private jet had gone over the fence of the airport.

'It's actually clipped the fence, spun around and crashed into the cars where they are sold.
'There are approximately six to ten fire engines and ambulances on the site. Everyone was evacuated from the site.

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'You can no longer see the plane in the fire as it's spread on to the vehicles surrounding it.

'The fire started at the front of the plane and worked its way from the front of the jet to the back and spread outwards onto the parked cars.

'The whole place was engulfed with very thick black smoke which the fire brigade is still trying to get on top of.'

The Civil Aviation Authority and Air Accidents Investigation Branch were among the professional bodies investigating the crash.

The nearby A30 was closed in both directions due to the incident.

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