WITNESSES last night thought a pilot killed along with a passenger in a plane crash outside Oxford had been trying to avoid houses and a nearby school.

Two people were killed when the Piper Navajo light aircraft crashed in a field next to Bladon, half a mile away from a local primary school.

Witnesses said they saw the plane circling and heard a pop as the aircraft came down in land owned by Blenheim Palace, half a mile from Heath Lane.

The aircraft burst into flames on impact and was destroyed. There were no survivors and neither of the two victims have been identified.

The plane left Oxford Airport on a private flight at 2pm yesterday, but James Godfray, a development manager at the airport, said he did not know its destination.

He said the plane had been grounded at the airport for a few weeks before the crash.

Witness Isobel Squibb-Williams, 20, of Heath Road, Bladon, said: “I heard the engine struggling. He must have circled two or three times over the village.

“He really did seem to be trying to avoid the houses.

“The engine sounded in trouble, and he was going round in circles trying to find a way out.

“It’s rather good you see, because there is a primary school nearby.”

Ray Banks, chairman of governors at Bladon CofE Primary School, said he had seen the plane from his window just after 2pm.

He said: “It sounded like a Second World War spitfire, like the ones at the air display at Blenheim Palace, which is why I looked out of the window.

“I saw it dive towards the trees in Bladon Woods and then it pulled up and disappeared into the mists of low cloud.

“We’re all relieved it flew so close to the school and houses but managed to miss them, but very sad at the loss of life.”

Dr Shaun Henson, rector of the Blenheim Benefice, who lives in Bladon, said: “We were all shocked and greatly sorry to hear of the plane crash in Bladon.

“Our prayers are with the families of the pilot and passenger of the aircraft involved.

“We’re all greatly relieved that, due no doubt to the care and skill of the pilot, the nearby Bladon Church of England School and surrounding houses were all missed.”

Fourteen-year-old Josh Carpenter, of Heath Lane, said he saw the plane flying past his house at the height of his first-floor window.

He added: “I went outside and saw smoke and it must’ve already crashed.

“It was very scary because the plane was so close to the houses.”

Firefighting crews from Woodstock, Eynsham, Witney and Charlbury joined Oxford Airport fire service crews and specialist support vehicles from Kidlington, Wheatley and Abingdon at the crash.

At the height of incident, 45 personnel were at the scene.

The plane carried an American registration through a Cornwall-based trust.

The trust declined to comment.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch, based in Farnborough, Hampshire, last night sent a team to look into the crash.