Passenger in small plane falls to his death in southern England

LONDON - A man fell to his death from a small airplane Tuesday as it flew over the countryside in southern England, police said. <br> <br> The man was a passenger in the privately owned plane, which was piloted by a woman who landed the aircraft safely, police said. The man&#39;s body was found in a field in Fifield, Oxfordshire, 55 miles west of London. <br> <br> Before the incident, which occurred at about 3 p.m., the pilot of the single-engine Cessna had asked for permission to divert from her route due to ice on the wings, the Civil Aviation Authority said. <br> <br> Permission was given for the plane to land at a Royal Air Force base, the authority said. But about 12 miles from its destination, the pilot reported that &#34;the passenger opened the door and jumped out,&#34; an official with the aviation authority said on condition of anonymity. <br> <br> The dead man was not immediately identified. <br> <br> Air traffic controllers who first contacted police said &#34;a passenger left an aircraft without a parachute,&#34; said Superintendent Liam Macdougall of the Thames Valley Police. &#34;The circumstances surrounding this are unclear and there is a full-scale investigation under way.&#34; <br> <br> <br>

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