Fatal copter crash cause still unknown - inquest

The cause of a helicopter crash in the Yorkshire Dales which killed the pilot and a teenage boy remains unknown, an inquest jury has heard.

Ian Macdonald, 66, and Admasu Tefera, 16, died after the Guimbal Cabri G2 being flown by Mr Macdonald came down near the village of Ingleton in June 2022, the hearing at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court was told.

The helicopter was about to land after an 80-minute flight around the Lake District when it plummeted vertically into a tree and caught fire.

The jury was read a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) which found that extensive damage caused by the fire meant it was not possible to conclude what caused the accident.

According to the AAIB report, investigators had considered whether there was a mechanical failure, an "incorrect pilot response to unexpected environmental conditions", an inadvertent intervention on the controls by the passenger, or whether Mr Macdonald had suffered a medical episode.

But the inquest jury heard that the report concluded that "the evidence recovered in this investigation was not sufficient to determine the cause of the accident".

There was evidence from the crash site and from witnesses that the engine was running and the rotor blades were turning when the aircraft hit the tree, but other mechanical failures could not be ruled out due to the fire, they were told.

While the report said that errors in the pilot's handling of the aircraft could also have caused a loss of control, it stressed that Mr Macdonald was an experienced flyer.

"He was not a student or low-hours helicopter pilot. He had 20 years of experience, and he did not routinely fly another helicopter type with an anti-clockwise rotating main rotor," the AAIB report, which was read to the court, stated.

"As a consequence, his instinctive pedal input would likely have been the correct one."

About half Mr Macdonald's total flying experience had been on the Cabri G2, the report said, adding that "he was operating in a familiar environment".

The inquest heard that Admasu, a German exchange student, had been staying with a local family for three months, while Mr Macdonald was a well-liked member of the community in nearby Burton in Lonsdale.

Home Office pathologist Sam Hoggard told the jury that Admasu died from a blunt head injury before fire consumed the aircraft.

Mr Macdonald's likely cause of death was a combination of injuries sustained in the crash and the effects of the subsequent fire, Mr Hoggard said.

However, he added that the pilot had coronary heart disease and he could not rule out a fatal medical event immediately before the crash.

Mr Hoggard told senior coroner Jon Heath: "It's possible. There was nothing to support that being the case, but I can't exclude that either."

Mr Heath told the inquest jury that a cause of death should be determined on the "balance of probabilities" and, on that basis, it should be recorded as injuries sustained in the crash and the effects of fire.

AAIB experts had not been able to establish the cause of the crash and, therefore, it was not the jurors' role to make that determination, Mr Heath told the court.

The jury returned a narrative conclusion that both Mr Macdonald and Admasu died as a result of a helicopter crash.

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