"TO this day, my memories of the Kegworth air crash still haunt me. Twenty years on, I still shed a tear when I think back to the night of the accident.

Even now I get upset when I talk about what happened. What I saw and what I had to do were pretty tough.

I tried to be strong and help out as much as I could but the experience changed my life.

From my front room, I watched in horror as the stricken jet skimmed over the village and crashed into the M1. I grabbed my bike from the shed and cycled to the scene to see what I could do to help.

I helped form a human chain to carry the dead and injured clear of the wrecked airliner. I worked for hours helping the emergency crews.

It was horrendous. A lot of people from Kegworth helped that night. I was just one of them and I did what I could.

It was extremely harrowing. I saw stuff that night that I still think about now. I still cry. I can't hide it.

I had just sat down to enjoy a Chinese takeaway with my family when I spotted the plane coming in to land.

I saw fire raging from one of the engines and knew something was desperately wrong.

I knew it was bad and when I didn't hear the back thrust after it landed, I feared that the worst had probably happened.

We always watched the planes come in. We don't live on the flight path, but we can see them as they make their descent into East Midlands Airport. When you live in Kegworth, planes become a big part of your life.

A few minutes later, my phone rang. A friend from the village was calling to tell me that the plane had crashed. I knew it. I just knew it.

Almost simultaneously, the programme I'd been watching on the TV was interrupted by the breaking news bulletin.

I had to get there. For a split second, I thought about whether I'd be of any use, but I set off all the same.

I don't really know what came over me. But I just had to go and see if I could help. My wife stayed at the home with the children and I set off.

I thought that if I could be of help, then I'd stay. If I got in the way, I'd come home and leave it to the experts. I remember it was just before half-past seven in the evening.

I raced like crazy to get to the accident. I probably rode my bike faster than ever that night.

When I arrived, I saw the sheer devastation of the crash. I rushed down to where the front part of the plane had ploughed into a field, just yards from the airport runway.

I don't know where I found my strength. But the first thing me and a couple of other blokes did was lift out part of a fence which fire crews had decided was obviously going to get in the way of the rescue operation.

We just dismantled it. I can't remember it being heavy or even tough to get out.

With that out of the way, we worked with emergency crews at the front of the aircraft, where the nose of the plane had landed.

We helped lift passengers from the plane and get them into ambulances.

When all the stretchers were used, we found ladders to ferry the injured people up the embankment and on to the M1, where ambulances and medics had gathered to treat them.

Villagers were wading through the thick undergrowth to get people away from the plane. It was really hard work.

I couldn't reach the cockpit but ladders were put up along the side of the wreckage to check on the pilot and co-pilot.

We heard that they were alive but it was a couple of hours before crews managed to get them out. Loads of seats were loose and there was other stuff which needed to be moved out of the way.

I didn't know at the time but my brother had also raced to the scene and was helping in the rescue operation.

It was only later, when we talked, that we realised we'd both been there. I was at the front of the plane and he was working at the back.

When I watched all the news clips on TV, I saw him helping out.

To this day, I still can't believe just how calm and quiet it was at the scene. There was no sense of panic despite the fact that it was a huge disaster in which dozens of people lost their lives.

It was remarkable. It was so organised. Obviously, the emergency crews knew exactly what to do and we followed their lead.

It never occurred to me just how well the firemen, the ambulance crews, the police and all the doctors and nurses could cope in such a crisis.

It was an amazing operation. It really was.

Later that year, I was invited to Belfast Cathedral for a special memorial service to pay tribute to those who died in the Kegworth air disaster. The event also praised the work of the emergency crews.

Members of the Royal family, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other Government ministers all attended the service. Survivors of the crash, their families and members of the emergency crews were also there.

We were flown over to Belfast for the event. It was quite daunting to get on the plane. I remember feeling nervous about flying after being so involved with Kegworth but it was good to go

Quite a few villagers from Kegworth went across.

For weeks after the accident, I struggled to put the events of that night to the back of his mind.

I was probably in shock. I had a bit of counselling after the crash.

It was a life-changing experience that night. It certainly makes you see things very differently when you've been involved in something like that.

I still hate flying and when I hear a plane coming in to land at East Midlands Airport, I always stop what I'm doing and go and look at it.

At the back of my mind, I know what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about the night of Kegworth and praying that it never, ever happens again."