A TRAIL of blue and red dye, shattered fences and broken trees marks out the final, tragic moments of Red 4’s crash at Throop.

The wreckage has been removed and the cordon has been lifted to reveal the scene for the first time.

The initial impact point marks out a virtually straight line all the way – perhaps 500 yards – to where the plane came to rest on the west bank of the River Stour.

It seems the plane cleared a line of trees near Hurn Court Lane - without leaving obvious damage - before the first gouge mark around 100 yards later in a farmer’s field.

The investigators have cleared a patch of shrubs around 20 yards wide and cut down a tree, but you can still see debris marks on the surrounding trees from where the plane crashed through the foliage.

The plane, minus its wings, made it over the water and came to rest on the far side of the bank. All you can see now is an area of disturbed earth and a cut down tree.

The work to establish exactly what happened, especially in the seconds before Red 4 hit the ground, will go on for months.