Manchester Personal Injury
Passenger Claims
The teenager on board the plane which crashed into Salford houses had volunteered for the flight just before take off.
Joel McNicholls, 19, suffered severe burns after the two-seater plane crashed in Peel Green, Eccles.
His family described how the former Air Cadet from Wythenshawe had always dreamed of being an RAF pilot. He is now in an induced coma.
Joel, of Maltby Road, is a trained pilot. He had started a new job with flight company Ravenair - which owned the two-seat Piper PA38 Tomahawk - just three days before the accident.
It is understood he had volunteered to join 59-year-old Ian Daglish, as a passenger.
Mr Daglish, a dad-of-two from Alderley Edge, died as a result of his injuries two days after Friday’s crash. The plane came down minutes after taking off from nearby City Airport, Barton.
Joel’s family said he had been obsessed with flying from an early age and dreamed of one day of joining the Air Force.
Jim McNicholls, 47, a trade union rep, said: "Every opportunity he gets to fly, he takes it.
"Flying is the be all and the end all for him. He joined the Air Cadets when he was 14 and just got a passion for it.
"The first thing he’ll say when he wakes up is ‘when can I get back in a plane?’"
Joel had just finished his A-Levels at Newall Green Sixth Form College.
He saw his job as a flying school co-ordinator with Ravenair as the ‘first foot on the ladder’, said his mum Julie.
"It was the dream job for him," she said. "He’s an extremely determined, clever lad – well-mannered and polite. For a lad from Wythenshawe to do what he’s done – we’re so proud of him."
Residents in the quiet cul-de-sac sprang into action after the crash. Householders used buckets of water in a bid to douse the flames.
Joel’s family praised the efforts of heroic neighbours who risked their lives to try and fight off the flames to save Joel and Mr Daglish. "If it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be here now," said Julie, a bus driver.
"They gave him a fighting chance, getting water from anywhere they could. We can’t thank them enough."
An official investigation into the cause of the tragedy is expected to take several months.
Ravenair praised Joel and expressed sympathy for Mr Daglish’s family.
Jeff Nuttall, the firm’s managing director, said: "Joel is an excellent find for us showing lots of enthusiasm for aviation. All at Ravenair send our best wishes to Joel, his family and friends."
The company was fully co-operating with the investigation, he added. The aircraft has been taken to Farnborough, Hampshire, for specialist examination.
source: menmedia.co.uk
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