The family of
a Warwickshire police officer killed in a helicopter crash at the weekend have today
spoken about the man they loved. Pc Stuart Ross died when the police helicopter he was
travelling in crashed in the darkness on the Warwickshire/ Leicestershire border. The
helicopter had been on its way to help police chasing a joyrider in Stratford.
The pilot and another passenger in the helicopter were also injured but Pc Ross, aged
34, didn’t survive the impact as the craft crashed into dense woodland near Husbands
Bosworth. Pc Ross had been on secondment with the Air Support Unit for three years but had
spent most of his career in Rugby where he worked as a traffic officer.
As police officers lowered flags at stations across the county to half mast, as a mark
of respect, Pc Ross’s wife, Brenda spoke of the family’s loss. She said:
‘’Stuart was a dedicated police officer who loved his job and loved flying.
He worked very hard to gain his position within the air support unit.’’
She said the crash had been a ‘’tragic accident.’’ She added:
‘’It has robbed his family of a very special person who was professional and
conscientious in all that he did. The family are devastated by Stuart’s
loss.’’
The crash happened just after midnight in the early hours of Saturday morning as the
helicopter, which is used by Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire police, was
on its way to Stratford. Police chiefs told a press conference that the helicopter had
‘’come into contact’’ with power lines as it flew in the darkness.
Pc Ross was certified dead at the scene. The pilot Cpt John Howard was taken to
hospital with chest and shoulder injuries along with the second passenger in the
helicopter Pc Andy Keeble, from Leicestershire police.
Investigators have spent all weekend at the scene and will today be taking the bulk of
the wreckage to an air base at Farnborough where they hope to piece together exactly what
happened. In the meantime police chiefs from all three forces are also meeting today to
discuss how they can replace the helicopter.
The Air Support Unit had only the one craft which had helped out at hundreds of
incidents across the three counties. Fitted with specialist heat-seeking equipment it was
often used to track down criminals fleeing from police.
