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Plane Crashes

Inquest opened into deaths of two men in Essex plane crash near Ongar

Essex Police has asked the coroner to suspend proceedings pending a criminal investigation running alongside an Air Accidents Investigation Branch probe.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 19, 2026, 7:23 p.m. ET
men died when a came down near on Monday 30 June 2025, The Independent reported. The aircraft had taken off from North Weald airfield around seven miles away and was conducting what Essex Police described as a "short flight experience", with only the men on board. The men were named as Dylan Patel, 26, from Southall in London, who was the pilot of the aircraft, and Vamshi Mandala, 25, from India, according to The Independent. Post-mortem examinations provisionally found that both men died from "multiple injuries", pending toxicology results. The cause of the crash has not been determined. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed it is investigating and that inspectors were at the scene. Lincoln Brookes, the senior coroner for Essex, said he had received a request from Essex Police to suspend inquest proceedings pending a criminal investigation running in parallel to the AAIB probe. Neither force nor branch has stated a finding as to what happened. Brookes opened an inquest and adjourned it to a date to be set.

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  1. Version 119 Aug 2026, 23:23current

    First published.

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