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A Red Arrow jet has crashed near Bournemouth airport after the display team took part in an annual air festival.

A Twitter account for the Bournemouth Air Festival said: "We are aware of the situation with the Red Arrows - will update you accordingly."

Police said they were dealing with "an incident" in the area although would not give any details.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) also said it was investigating.


Shaun Spencer-Perkins saw the crash and said he heard "a whoosh sound, looked around and saw a Red Arrow flying below the tree line".

"It was flying incredibly fast, then it hit one side of the embankment of the river," he told Sky News.

"I saw part of the plane on our side of the embankment, strewn over a field.

"The rest was on the opposite side of the river.

"The crash site was quite large and there was a smell of aviation fuel."

Laura Goodwin also saw the crash, and said that immediately afterwards, she saw a police helicopter and a coastguard helicopter in the air.


She had been watching the display, and said she saw the red arrows coming in to land.

"One went one way, one went the other and then did not come back up," she told Sky News.

"Within seconds you could tell something was not right as there were ambulances there."

The aerobatic team was officially formed in 1965 and has taken part in over 4,000 displays in 53 countries, according to the official website.

A timetable said they were due to be carrying out a display at the Air Festival at 1pm before a flypast in Drimpton - a village in West Dorset.