A 24-year-old skydiver, from Alton, Hampshire, and a 69-year-old glider pilot, from the Templar area of Oxford, died when the parachutist smashed through the glider's wing.

The two victims have not yet been formally identified and police said the process was likely to take some time.

The glider wreck has been recovered from the field near Brackley, Northamptonshire where it crashed.

Killed instantly

The collision happened 2,000 feet above Hinton Airfield, at about 1500 BST on Saturday.

The wing of the glider was knocked off by the force of the impact and both people were killed instantly, a spokesman for the Air Accidents Investigations Branch said.

A Northamptonshire police spokesman said the glider came down in a field close to the private airfield.

Among the first to arrive at the scene was a crew from Two Shires Ambulance Service who confirmed the deaths.

Wing off

A spokesman said: "We arrived to find a parachutist was deceased and the glider pilot also deceased.

"There were no other casualties."

An AAIB spokesman said few details of the accident were available but confirmed the tragedy.

"A parachutist flew into the glider knocking off its wing," he said.

"There are two fatalities ... the pilot and the parachutist."

Investigators have been assisted by representatives of the Parachute Association.

Staff at Hinton Skydiving Centre, which is based at the airfield, were unable to comment as the incident was being investigated.