2/5/2008

Local News

Men lucky to escape Ferrari crash

Two men narrowly escaped being burned alive when they crashed their hired Ferrari Spider F430 at speed while racing around a disused part of Blackbushe Airport.

The men just managed to scramble to safety from the overturned vehicle as the car’s powerful V12 engine burst into flames. 

The fact that they were able to get on to an old runway area has raised fresh concerns about security around the airport, which is own by British Car Auctions.

The driver had hired the £150,000 convertible sports car for the day to celebrate his 30th birthday and had taken his fiancee and a friend along to watch him test it out.

The two men who were in the vehicle when it overturned suffered only minor injuries but the £5,000 deposit put on the car was lost.

The incident took place on Tuesday last week after the trio gained access to the disused part of Blackbushe Airport.

According to Yateley Fire Station manager  Danny Randall, whose crew attended the blaze, the driver and his passenger just escaped with their lives.

“When it crashed, the car was doing an excessive speed” he said. “When the driver tried to U-turn at the end of the runway the car rolled over.

“The only thing that saved the Ferrari’s occupants was the fact the it came to half rest on the 4ft embankment which separates the disused part of the airport from the actual airport.

“This meant that there was enough space for the two men to scramble out. If the car had landed on its roof they would have been trapped.

“The car went up in flames due to the heat and the amount of fuel in the large V12 engine.

“The Blackbushe Airport fire crew were the first on the scene and they attempted to put the fire out with foam,” said Mr Randall. “Then we turned up and put it out with a combination of water and fine spray.

“When I got there, the men and the women where all suffering from shock, too shocked to talk to me.

“Next the ambulance came and took them away.

Mr Randall laid responsibility for the men getting on to the runway with airport owners BCA.

“BCA are lacking in security and we have them asked to improve it,” he said. “We have had to put a few car fires out up there in the past and while we are working there have been youngsters racing about at excessive speeds.

“BCA need to tighten up their security on the front gate, as I suspect that many people who get on to the old runway just say they are going to the auctions and then go off racing.”

Mr Randall’s concerns were supported by Hampshire county councillor for Yateley West, David Simpson.

He said: “First of all I would like to congratulate Yateley Fire and Rescue Service and the airport fire service for doing a superb job.

“It’s just plain stupidity for someone to go and drive around the airport like that. A powerful vehicle like that is very easy to turn. You need special training to handle them.

“The area is BCA’s responsibility and they shouldn’t have allowed these people to get up there. These idiots are putting the lives of these firemen at risk and it’s not on. These firemen have other full-time jobs, which they have to leave at a moment’s notice to fight these fires and save our lives.”

A spokesman for www.supercarexperiences.com, which hired out the Ferrari Spider, expressed his surprise and dismay over the crash.

“I have never experienced this in the five years I have been doing this job,” he said. “We run checks on all the customers, explaining to them what they can and can’t do but we can’t manage what they do to the car when they have it.”

Communications director for BCA Tony Gannon responded to allegations that BCA security at Blackbushe was not stringent enough, saying: “I am concerned about comments about our security being lacking. We will be reviewing the situation.”

Mr Randall added: “The Yateley firefighters have had enough to put up with lately after the recent death of a colleague and a man setting himself alight outside the fire station.”

The part of the airport where the men were racing is common land. Public access is allowed by law for fresh air and exercise but vehicles are banned. BCA is responsible for preventing vehicles getting on to the land.

But, due to the fact that Blackbushe was created during the Second World War under the 1939 Emergency War Powers Act, the disused part of the airport remains a legal grey area. According to the police the incident is currently under investigation but no charges have been made.

First printed in: Yateley News and Mail