Pilots' deaths in Stonor plane crash were accidents, jury concludes

Emily Collett was an experienced pilot and had competed in the British Aerobatics Team

An experienced aerobatics pilot and her pupil died in an accident, a jury has concluded.

Emily Collett, 35, and Tom Castle, 30, died after their biplane crashed near Stonor, Oxfordshire, on 24 August 2019.

The jury heard Mrs Collett may have suffered a heart attack before the plane crashed and Mr Castle may have been unable to recover it.

But senior coroner Darren Salter said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that beyond reasonable doubt.

Tom Castle was "the outstanding candidate" on the aerobatics scholarship, the inquest heard

Mrs Collett, from Uxbridge, competed in the British Aerobatics Team and was featured on The One Show with Carol Vorderman in 2017.

She ran the aerobatics company Ultimate Aerobatics with her husband, Mike, from White Waltham Airfield, near Maidenhead, Berkshire.

It offered aerobatics scholarships, one of which was taken up by Mr Castle, who had a private pilot licence.

The plane crashed in a field in the village of Stonor, near Henley-on-Thames

Mr Collett previously told the inquest that Mr Castle, from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, was the "outstanding candidate" in the programme and his wife was an exceptional pilot.

Mrs Collett and Mr Castle took off from the airfield in the Pitts S-2A Special biplane but it crashed about 8 miles (12.8km) away, 10 minutes into their flight.

On Monday, a cardiac pathologist told Oxford Coroner's Court an examination of Mrs Collett's heart showed one of her arteries was narrowed by between 80% and 90%.

Former Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman was shown being given a lesson by Mrs Collett on The One Show

Prof Simon Kim Suvarna said there would have been "no warning symptoms" for Mrs Collett, from Uxbridge, to have known about or noticed.

Air accident investigators said on Tuesday that Mrs Collett may have been incapacitated and that Mr Castle may have failed to react within the 17 to 35 seconds he may have had to move the plane to safety.

That could have been because of a lack of communication or him being temporarily startled or disorientated, they said.