The 24th March 1997 saw another in a long history of reported sightings of a propellor driven plane being witnessed flying low, in apparent difficulty and then seeming to crash on moors above Sheffield. A rescue operation was launched but, as has happened before, no trace of any plane or crash was found despite a search involving 100 volunteers and police.
This latest incident was witnesses by several people who dialled 999 when they saw a plane in trouble. They were watching the pass of the comet Hale-Bopp on moors which are far enough away from the city lights and pollution to give them a good view of the comet.
A farmer has spoken of him instinctively ducking when the plane passed over his head. A former police special constable Marie France-Tattersfield has reported that she and her husband (a former pilot) saw a low flying plane plunge to the ground over Midhope Moors. They reported seeing lights on the wings.

There are several moors in the area but reports seem to centre on Howden Moors which cover quite a large area of the Peak District to the north west of Sheffield. Nearby features are the Derwent & Ladybower Reservoirs to the south of the area in question. This region has been the site of many plane crashes during and since the second world war. Over 50 planes have come to grief in this area. More than 300 people have lost their lives in these crashes. One Captain Landon T Tranner and his crew perished in the crash of their B29 bomber in 1945. Two crashes at the end of the war claimed the lives of 13 airmen. On 18th May 1945, a Royal Canadian Lancaster bomber of 408 Sqn crashed at James Thorn on Bleaklow Hill. In July 1945, a US Dakota crashed on the same peak. A Superfortress and another Dakota have also crashed in the area. More recently (1993), a privately owned Hawker Hunter jet crashed on Broomhead Moor in a storm.

In April 1995, retired postman Tony Ingle saw the sun blocked out by the shadow of a plane 40-60 feet overhead. He could see the propellors rotating but there was no sound. He saw it banking and then it seemed to go down over a hedge. When he ran to the field, it was empty. His dog, which he was taking for a walk at the time, now refuses to go into that field.
Ron Collier is a local farmer who set up a group to study the sightings. He is regularly contacted by people who have seen ghost planes.

A farmer picked up debris from one site and stowed it in an outhouse until his son saw the barn almost shake itself to pieces. The pieces were returned and the incident has not happened again. Another man who recovered the ring of a crewman says that he has been visited by a ghost.