In pictures: Emergency response following light aircraft crash in Greater Manchester

Photos of the emergency response effort have emerged following the fatal light aircraft crash in Greater Manchester that claimed the lives of two men.

The images come after a plane went down in a farmland area near Rochdale shortly after 11am on Monday.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the two men onboard the aircraft were pronounced dead at the scene and that no one else was injured.

While the full circumstances of the crash remain under investigation, the newly released photographs show the scale of the emergency response that was deployed to the area near Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough.

via SWNS

Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after reports of the incident, with police, fire and ambulance crews attending.

Michael Perry, 31, was walking his dog when he noticed a huge emergency response by Hollingworth Lake in Littleborough, Rochdale,

Michael, a travel advisor, said: “I didn’t see the crash but I did see response units making their way there- there were so many.

“I’d say about 30, maybe more.

“You don’t see that many response units over nothing, I think it might be quite severe.”

Authorities have said the aircraft is believed to have been a Cirrus SR20 – a type of light aircraft equipped with an emergency parachute system – though this has not yet been formally confirmed.

via SWNS

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Flight tracking data shared earlier in the day suggested a private aircraft had departed Birmingham Airport at around 9.59am, before losing signal less than an hour later south of the M62 motorway near Marsden.

A Cirrus SR20, registered as G-GXVV, appears to have crashed near Rochdale in the United Kingdom. The aircraft departed Birmingham at 09:59 local time. The last signal was received at around 10:39, south of the M62 motorway near Marsden. At this time, we are not aware of any… pic.twitter.com/UK28Ro5hFN

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 3, 2026

Chief Superintendent Danny Inglis described the incident as “devastating” and said officers would remain in the area overnight and into the following day while investigators carry out detailed enquiries.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has confirmed it has launched a full investigation into the crash, with specialist inspectors travelling to the site to examine the wreckage and gather evidence.

Police continue to appeal for witnesses or anyone with information related to the incident to come forward as efforts to establish exactly what happened continue.

Featured image via SWNS