{"id":2445773,"date":"2026-06-05T04:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2445773"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:04:17","slug":"royal-navy-air-squadron-killed-in-devon-helicopter-crash-pictured-news-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royal-navy-air-squadron-killed-in-devon-helicopter-crash-pictured-news-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Navy air squadron killed in Devon helicopter crash pictured | News UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher of 846 Naval Air Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson and Petty Officer Owen Green of 845 Naval Air Squadron, who died in Devon (Picture: MOD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The families of three \u2018cherished\u2019 Royal Navy personnel who died in a helicopter crash in Devon<\/a> have paid tribute to them.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher, Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson and Petty Officer Owen Green died in the incident on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

The department previously confirmed they died during a training exercise.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said they heard a series of explosions and a second helicopter hovering in the area.<\/p>\n

Lt Fisher\u2019s family described her as an \u2018extraordinary woman, daughter, sister and partner.\u2019<\/p>\n

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In a statement, they said: \u2018To say she was full of life is an understatement: she took every opportunity to push her limits, achieve more, and bring out the best in those around her.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are so proud of everything she accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u2018She has left an immeasurable hole in our lives, and in all the lives she has touched and inspired.\u2019<\/p>\n

Lt Cdr Gayson\u2019s family described him as an \u2018extremely kind and gentle family man who loved his entire family dearly\u2019.<\/p>\n

Their statement added: \u2018He was also passionate about and dedicated to his job in the Royal Navy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Petty Officer Green\u2019s family described him as a \u2018caring and devoted son, brother, grandson, and partner\u2019, saying that his death has left them \u2018devastated\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018His life was far too short, and our hearts will forever be broken,\u201d their statement said.<\/p>\n

His family added: \u2018His kindness, warmth, and character touched everyone who knew him.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are so proud of him achieving his life\u2019s goal to serve in the Royal Navy as a Junglie Aircrewman and are grateful for the joy he brought into ours and Iona\u2019s (his partner\u2019s) lives.<\/p>\n

\u2018He is so loved and will remain in our hearts forever.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Three people died in the crash on Wednesday (Picture: PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Members of the UK armed forces have also started paying tribute to the three killed in the crash.<\/p>\n

Commanding Officer of Commando Helicopter Force, Colonel Will Penkman, said: \u2018It is a tragedy that we lost three members of the CHF family yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cherished members of the force with bright futures ahead of them, they were all highly committed professionals infused with the Junglie spirit of the force.<\/p>\n

\u2018Their loss leaves a terrible gap in our hearts and my thoughts go out to their family and friends who dearly loved them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Pictures from the scene show the tailfin lying beside the charred remains of what is thought to be a Merlin aircraft.<\/p>\n

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Emergency services at the site of the crash (Picture: PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eddie Amhof, who lives near the site of the accident, told ITV<\/a> he saw an \u2018almighty flash of red which lit up the sky\u2019 as the noise of the helicopter stopped abruptly.<\/p>\n

He told the outlet: \u2018I heard this horrendous noise from a helicopter, it sounded like he was going to pitch on the roof. It was a terrible noise.<\/p>\n

\u2018By the time I got out of bed, and got to the window, he\u2019d moved away about half-a-mile.<\/p>\n

\u2018And all of a sudden, no noise at all. The engines were gone.\u2019<\/p>\n

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It is believed the helicopter involved was a Merlin model (Picture: MOD)
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Another witness wrote on social media: \u2018Heard a helicopter very low around us at 3.30 this morning, looked out, no lights, but sounds going towards Okehampton! Hope all ok.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile someone else said: \u2018Thought there was a loud bang at 3 this morning.\u2019<\/p>\n

One person staying nearby in a van said: \u2018Got woken up by this in my van, was so low my van was shaking.\u2019<\/p>\n

A Merlin Mk4 helicopter, the model believed to have been involved, can carry four crew and up to 24 soldiers.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Three dead after Royal Navy helicopter crashes into a field in Devon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: The UK\u2019s \u2018no-go\u2019 beaches for bank holiday swimming revealed<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Body of man, 38, found on Hollicombe beach after RNLI search<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source metro.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher of 846 Naval Air Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson and Petty Officer Owen Green of 845 Naval Air Squadron, who died in Devon (Picture: MOD) The families of three \u2018cherished\u2019 Royal Navy personnel who died in a helicopter crash in Devon have paid tribute to them. Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher, Lieutenant Commander Chris […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2445774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[308707,21738,384194,26934],"class_list":["post-2445773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-devon","tag-news","tag-royal-navy","tag-uk"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royal-Navy-air-squadron-killed-in-Devon-helicopter-crash-pictured.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2445775,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445773\/revisions\/2445775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2445774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}