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Plane Crashes

Two Die in Cessna Crash Near High Ongar, Essex; Inquest Opened and Suspended

Essex Police are investigating the June 30, 2026 crash of a light aircraft that came down near Mill Road minutes after take-off from North Weald Airfield.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 13, 2026, 7:09 a.m. ET

More on this incident

men died when a came down near , Essex, on June 30, 2026, the Mirror reported. The case is developing and the cause has not been determined. According to the Mirror, the aircraft took off from North Weald Airfield and came down near Mill Road eight minutes later. The outlet reported that Vamshi Mandala, 25, an Indian student, had chartered a 30-minute experience flight to celebrate finishing university, and that the pilot was Dylan Patel, 26. Both men died at the scene from multiple injuries and were identified using DNA and fingerprints, the Mirror reported. The outlet said the experience flight cost at least £125 and offered supervised access to the aircraft's dual controls, and that flight tracking data showed the aircraft had been flown twice already that day. An inquest at Essex Coroner's Court was opened and suspended, the Mirror reported, after Essex Police asked for proceedings to be halted "pending the outcome of a police investigation". Senior coroner Lincoln Brookes described the deaths as "truly disturbing", according to the outlet. No cause has been established. The official accident record for the crash, NTSB case GAA26WA234, identifies the aircraft as . United Kingdom aircraft registry records list that registration as a Cessna Aircraft Company CESSNA A152 Aerobat, a single-engine piston landplane, serial number A152-0796, with one Lycoming O-235-L2C engine. Official accident records list five earlier cases involving the same owner/operator of record: a Robinson R44, LN-OGT, at Eidanger, Norway on June 17, 2021, with one fatality; a Fairchild 227, LV-VDJ, at Mendoza, Argentina on November 5, 2020; a Rans S6, 62-ALK, at Lasne, Belgium on September 13, 2020, with fatalities; a Beech 58, PR-OFI, at Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 8, 2020, with one fatality; and a Piper PA22, D-EIRY, at Petrovice, Czech Republic on September 26, 2019, with fatalities. That history is a matter of record and says 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
266 ft
Nearest aerodrome
1.6 miles S of Willingale Airstrip (GB-0453)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 214 Aug 2026, 05:08current

    Added Deccan Chronicle reporting: AAIB and Essex Police roles, police appeal for footage, Mill Lane field site and three-day search, aircraft dismantled for investigation, plus sourced ranges on the passenger's age and the location name.

  2. Version 113 Aug 2026, 11:12

    First published.

  3. Version 113 Aug 2026, 11:09current

    First published.

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