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Plane CrashesVersion 2

Criminal Investigation Opened Into Fatal Light Aircraft Crash Near Ongar, Essex

Two people died in the 30 June 2026 crash; an official accident record identifies the aircraft as G-BRCD, and the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 13, 2026, 8:24 p.m. ET

More on this incident

people died in a crash near , on 30 June 2026, according to the Daily Record. The aircraft involved has been identified in an official accident record as the aeroplane registered . Aircraft registry records list as a Cessna Aircraft Company CESSNA A152 Aerobat, a single-engine piston landplane, serial number A152-0796, registered in the United Kingdom, with one Lycoming O-235-L2C engine. Accounts of the aircraft type differ: the Daily Record described it as a , while the Daily Beast referred to a . The Daily Beast's account, which reports crew fatalities and survivors, describes a jet crossing a South Carolina airport fence and a highway before exploding, and names Travis Barker's personal assistant Chris Baker and bodyguard Che Still as killed; it also reports that Barker suffered third-degree burns covering 65 percent of his body, broke every rib, fractured his back in four places, spent three and a half months in hospital and had 27 surgeries, and that the other survivor, Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein, died less than a year later of an accidental drug overdose. Those details are not consistent with the Essex crash as described by the Daily Record, and no connection between the accounts has been established. The Daily Record reported that the aeroplane had taken off from North Weald airfield, around seven miles from the crash site, and that Essex Police said it had been conducting a "short flight experience". The outlet named the pilot as Dylan Patel, 26, from Southall, London, and the passenger as Vamshi Mandala, 25, from India, and reported that post-mortem examinations provisionally found both men died from "multiple injuries", pending toxicology results. The cause has not been determined. The Daily Record reported that the senior coroner for Essex, Lincoln Brookes, said he had received a request from Essex Police to suspend proceedings pending a criminal investigation running in parallel to a probe by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The inquest Brookes opened was adjourned to a date to be set. Accident records also list other cases involving the same owner/operator of record: a Robinson R44, LN-OGT, at Eidanger, Norway, on 17 June 2021, with one fatality; a Fairchild 227, LV-VDJ, at Mendoza, Argentina, on 5 November 2020; a Rans S6, 62-ALK, at Lasne, Belgium, on 13 September 2020, with fatalities; a Beech 58, PR-OFI, at Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 8 July 2020, with one fatality; and a Piper PA22, D-EIRY, at Petrovice, Czech Republic, on 26 September 2019, with fatalities. Those records are history and say nothing about the cause of this accident.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
G-BRCD
Type
Cessna Aircraft Company CESSNA A152 Aerobat — single-engine piston landplane
Engines
1 x LYCOMING O-235-L2C&nbsp;&nbsp;( MCCAULEY 1A103/TCM6958 )<br>
Terrain elevation
180 ft
Nearest aerodrome
2.4 miles SW of Willingale Airstrip (GB-0453)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 214 Aug 2026, 00:24current

    Added the conflicting aircraft type (two-seat Cessna vs Learjet 60) and the Daily Beast material on casualties, survivors and crash details, flagged as inconsistent with the Essex account.

  2. Version 113 Aug 2026, 14:33

    First published.

  3. Version 113 Aug 2026, 14:28current

    First published.

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