AIR accident investigators are combing a field in Kington Magna after a Blandford man died in a gyrocopter crash.

Dorset Police sealed off the area, near Gillingham, after the accident at 7pm last night.

The pilot, a 58-year-old, has not yet been named.

Inspector Neil Leat of Dorset Police said CSI teams had photographed the scene and would be putting together a grid to help air accident investigators establish the route the pilot had been following.

Andrew Blackie of the Air Accident Investigation Branch said his officers were trying to account for all the debris.

“There appears to be small light pieces beyond the field in which the bulk of the wreckage was found.

“They may have been blown there or it may be the location where the collision was initiated,” said Inspector Blackie.

Investigators are hoping to remove all the wreckage by this afternoon, he added, where it will be transferred to Farnborough for a “controlled examination”.

For full story and witness accounts see Saturday’s paper.

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