A WITNESS has told how he saw an RAF helicopter plummet out of the sky, injuring at least 12 servicemen and prompting a major rescue operation.

The incident happened close to Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, at about 9pm last night.

The scene was in a wooded area close to the hamlet of Brokes, and sparked a full-scale alert with police, ambulance, fire, a mountain rescue team and the RAF involved.

Andrew Pavey, 39, and from Colburn, was in the village of Hudswell at the time of the incident.

"There were two helicopters flying around at about 8.15pm - at least one was double-bladed," he said.

"I heard one making a funny noise. You know what a helicopter sounds like, and it didn't sound right. It shot up in the air and then it came straight back down into the trees."

Mr Pavey's nephew, Haydyn Whateley, 15, who also witnessed the crash, said: "They were slinging the helicopters around like they were on Top Gun."

Mr Pavey added: "Normally, you would expect a big crash or bang.

"But there was no explosion. I turned to my nephew and said 'there has been a crash' but I didn't realise until I saw the news what had happened."

Five of the injured were taken to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, by RAF Sea King helicopters. Others were taken to Newcastle.

Two more injured personnel were ferried to Middlesbrough in a separate trip by the Sea King, and another casualty was taken to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, by ambulance.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: "We can confirm that there are 12 people injured who have been taken to hospitals in Middlesbrough and Newcastle."

Their injuries were thought to range in severity from very serious to walking wounded, she said.

Another witness, farmer Colin Brown, said he had watched with concern as the helicopters flew low over his land at Hudswell.

At one stage, Mr Brown waved his hand, gesturing to the pilot of one of them to pull up.

"It is hay time so we were out in the fields all day and saw a lot of low-flying helicopters," he said.

"They fly in over my land at Hudswell and then drop down into Hudswell Grange, which is a former farm owned by the MoD now.

"A lot of training takes place there and there seemed to be some kind of exercise going on today.

"They were so low I could see the young lads in the helicopters clearly. I waved at one, telling him to pull up a bit, I was worried about them.

"It is a tragic thing if those boys have been hurt or even worse.

"They were just lads most of them.

"I could smell burning in the air tonight. It smelled like a farm fire, a barn alight I thought.

"But when I saw the number of fire engines and then police cars going to the area, I worried it was going to be something much worse.

"They have to train and have to fly low, but those helicopters are terrible things to be in when they go down.

"I just hope for the sake of those lads and their families that casualties were on the low side."

Swaledale Mountain Rescue team members were among the first on the scene.

Paul Denning, rescue controller for the team, who was not at the scene himself, said it appeared his members had been in the area at the time of the incident.

"We were having an exercise today in that area," he said.

"All I can presume has happened is they have witnessed the helicopter crash and they have gone to assist straight away.

"There hasn't been a call-out or anything. Normally we receive a call-out and that hasn't happened."

RAF spokesman Michael Mulford said a board of inquiry would be set up and start work today to find out what caused the crash.

He said: "They will go through every possible detail, everything to do with the maintenance of the aircraft, everything to do with crew hours and flying hours, weather conditions, mechanics and electrics - everything that you can think of that might contribute to an accident."