AN AEROPLANE that dramatically crashed into the River Derwent in East Yorkshire remained in the water last night as an investigation into the accident continued.

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch is trying to find out why the two-seater Robin 2160 came down at about 4.10pm on Saturday, near the village of Aughton near Bubwith, after taking off from Sherburn Aero Club near Sherburn-in-Elmet.

A spokeswoman for the branch said it would look into why the accident happened through correspondence with the pilot. It said the owner’s insurance company would be responsible for salvaging the plane, but would not say who the insurers were.

The two people in the plane freed themselves from the stricken craft after it came down. They were taken to hospital but were not believed to have been seriously hurt.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was told about the plane by a person who had seen it coming down.

A spokesman for Humberside Fire Service said crews were called to the remote spot, but the two people on board did not need rescuing as they had got out themselves. He also said the Environment Agency was alerted due to the plane being in the river and possibly a danger to boats.

A spokeswoman for the agency said an inspector had checked that fuel was not leaking from the vehicle and that she believed the craft would be salvaged today.

The aircraft is understood to have taken off from Sherburn Aero Club, which is about eight miles away.

Club director Richard Maxted earlier said he had “absolutely no idea what happened” to the two-seater Robin 2160.

He said: “An aeroplane inverted in the water is not something you see every day, thank God, and at this stage we can’t even specify what has happened.”