THE wife of one of Scotland’s most senior lawyers today insisted she saw a doomed aircraft in the minutes before it plunged in to the North Sea.
Lady Fiona Fraser, who is married to Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, said she saw the mystery microlight flying “very much lower” than normal while out walking on Tuesday.
Police are still appealing for information because no trace of wreckage has been found and no pilots or aircraft have been reported missing.
Lady Fraser, who has given a statement to police, said she was speaking out about the mystery because she was concerned witnesses to the accident were not being believed.
Her husband, The Rt Hon Lord Fraser QC, was Lord Advocate in November 1991 when he issued the arrest warrants for the Lockerbie bombers.
The missing aircraft is believed to have gone into the sea just off Usan, near Montrose, Angus.
The alarm was raised after two separate emergency calls were made from members of the public in the town.
Unusual
Lady Fraser said ”I saw it when I was in a field next door to my house. I had been out walking the dogs.
“We haven’t had one of these flying over for a long time and because it was quite unusual I stood and looked at it.
Lady Fraser, who lives in Slade House in Arbroath, watched the aircraft for some time: “It was a lovely afternoon and I just thought that was such a nice thing to see. I didn’t see the pilot or the colour of the wing.
“We are on a kind of flight path here so we see a lot of aircraft, but it was very much lower than a light aircraft would normally be.”
“I hope that the mystery is happily resolved,” she said.
Lady Fraser’s evidence would appear to corroborate the story of Usan businessman, Dave Pullar, who made one of the original 999 calls.
She said: “It was only when I saw the local newspaper report. I was concerned they weren’t believing the man [Mr Pullar]. Mainly I wanted to back up his story.”
A fishing boat also made an emergency call about the crash.
Tayside police are still appealing for witnesses.
Inspector Mark McInally said: “Since we heard from Lady Fiona Fraser we have not heard anything else.
“The whole incident is very, very strange. We have witnesses who are adamant about that they saw, and they are all credible, but our enquiries have produced no missing persons.”
He appealed for anyone who might know of someone who went on holiday in the area and might be missing to come forward.
He said the microlight had V-Shaped wings, an under-slung seat and an engine at the back.
He added: “This could be someone who journeyed into the area alone on a short break or holiday to enjoy this type of pursuit and their loved ones remain unaware they are missing.”
Significant
A spokesman at Forth Coastguard said earlier this week: “We had a call to a similar incident off the coast of Fife Ness last year, where it was reported a Microlight had gone into the sea.
“In areas like these, where lots of people walk or play golf just above the beaches, the geography is such that an aircraft can drop out of sight of someone standing on the shore, but not enter the water.
He added: “It’s unusual for two people to see something that didn’t happen, let’s put it that way.”
But at a hearing earlier this week, lawyers for Webster claimed his sentence was “excessive” and should not have been longer than the 27 years handed down to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing.
Lawyers said the appeal against conviction related to a “misdirection or absence of direction from the judge”.
A crucial piece of forensic evidence from the trial is thought to feature in the appeal.
Lady Fraser added: “At the time I didn’t think it was anything of any particular significance.
“It would be good to have the mystery cleared up. I would like to see someone contacting the police saying they are safe and well.”
She said Lord Fraser was away on business.
“He will probably be amazed and horrified to find out I’ve been taking part in an air crash investigation,” she said.
