RAF puma crash inquest

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RAF puma crash inquest

Postby Sickbag » Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:13 pm

Three men killed in an RAF Puma crash in North Yorkshire died because the pilot was attempting manoeuvres beyond his capabilities, a coroner has ruled.
Recording a narrative verdict, the coroner criticised the administration of RAF Benson where the men were based.

Coroner Geoff Fell said the administration "left much to be desired", adding: "Against a background of deteriorating administration, airmanship and discipline, the helicopter crashed."
The crash happened during a training exercise to familiarise service personnel with the use of helicopters in combat situations.

The final flight of the day involved "rookie" soldiers who had missed out on earlier exercises due to illness and it was considered a boost to their morale as well as an opportunity to improve skills.

The inquest at Harrogate Magistrates' Court heard how a taxi driver stopped in the road as the helicopter flew low overhead.

Mr Fell said: "He stopped the car. He was eyeballing the pilot and described the helicopter 5ft above his car."


The coroner, who described the taxi driver's evidence as "compelling", also played extracts of the last two hours of the cockpit voice recording of the aircraft in which the pilot could be heard swearing.
Flt Lt Sale, 28, of Norton in Teesside, could be heard to say "let's scare the shit out of this taxi".

The inquest also heard that the Johnny Cash song Ring Of Fire was being played over the cockpit speaker.

Mr Fell said that crew members in the Puma helicopter on the day of the crash were "inexperienced" and were undertaking their first trip without an instructor watching them.

He added that nobody seemed to have laid out ground rules to the crew, and Flt Lt Sale missed an opportunity to remind himself of what he was authorised to do during the flight.

The coroner said most of the flying on the day "seems to have taken place at less than 100ft" and added the tactical manoeuvres were "excessive in number and irregularity".

He said the crew was "oblivious" at times and there was a deterioration in discipline.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 325588.stm

This is a pretty shocking indication of lax standards in the RAF, these guys sound like puppy mill pilots rather then the highly trained proffesionals the service claims to produce.
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