Three people who died in a helicopter crash on the Isle of Wight during the bank holiday have been named. Justyna Czoska, 52, a horse riding instructor, and her partner Wojtek Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, were killed when the aircraft came down between Shanklin and Whiteley Bank on Monday at about 9.24am. The helicopter had taken off from Sandown airport roughly 20 minutes earlier, according to the operator.
The third victim was Simon Hewitt, 54, from Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary confirmed on Tuesday evening. A fourth person, a man in his 30s, was airlifted to hospital in Southampton and remains in a stable condition.
The helicopter ride was reportedly a birthday present for Mr Kowalkowski. Ms Czoska’s daughter, Julia Buzar, 22, and her partner Jacob Butler have launched a fundraising appeal to repatriate the couple’s bodies to Poland. In a post on GoFundMe, Mr Butler wrote that the sudden loss had left the family “heartbroken” and that they hoped to lay them to rest with their families in “the place they called home”.
Ms Czoska worked at Turpins Lodge riding school in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, where staff described her as “cheerful, reliable and conscientious”. They added that she would “leave a huge hole to fill” and offered condolences to her daughters, family and friends.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has opened a formal inquiry expected to last 12 months. Northumbria Helicopters, based at Newcastle airport, has confirmed one of its aircraft was involved. Danial Subhani, operations manager at Sandown airport, told ITV that everyone there was “absolutely horrified” and that the crash had affected the whole Isle of Wight community.
