ESSEX Police can now confirm the name of the man whose body was recovered following an airplane crash in Essex.
A postmortem took place on Wednesday 7 January, and we can now confirm that the body belonged to Mr Peter Beeson, 66, of Bishop’s Stortford.
We believe Mr Beeson was the sole occupant of the private aircraft, a Beagle B121 Pup, which had departed North Weald Airfield just before 12pm on Sunday 28 December 2025 before it crashed in the reservoir at Hanningfield at around 2pm.
Detective Inspector Lydia George, who leads the Essex Police investigation said: “Our thoughts remain with family and friends, and I offer my condolences.
“At the end of last year, we were involved in an extensive search alongside our emergency services partners, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and other specialists following notification of a plane crash near Chelmsford.
“Sadly, that search resulted in divers from the Metropolitan Police Service recovering the body of Mr Beeson.
“I’d like to thank all our partners who assisted in the search and recovery and specialists from across multiple agencies, including Essex and Suffolk Water.”
The investigation continues, but to date, has not identified any suspicious circumstances.
We will continue to prepare a file for the coroner.
