Dinton fatal air crash landing site was 'bad decision'

Royal Air Force test pilot Alexandre Jay Parr died at the scene after the plane came down in a field close to Dinton

The survivor of a fatal air crash told an inquest landing in a field may have been a better decision than heading for an airstrip.

RAF pilot Flt Lt Alex Parr, 40, died when a civilian aircraft crashed during the emergency landing in July 2016.

Flying instructor John Calverley told the hearing: "In retrospect it was the wrong decision and I don't deny that."

Mr Calverley thought fuel valves were blocked so he opted to make a forced landing, the Salisbury inquest heard.

The crash happened near Dinton Airfield in Wiltshire.

Mr Calverley, 62, an experienced civilian pilot, was in command of the exercise in a two-seater Yak-52, which was used to train elite pilots to become test pilots and instructors.

He told the inquest they were flying at around 4,000ft, with Flt Lt Parr in control, when the plane suffered engine failure so he decided on a forced landing.

Initially Mr Calverley chose a wheat field but then, as they made the approach, he took over the controls and chose an airstrip instead.

'Bad decision'

"I think it is common sense to land on the airstrip rather than in an unlevel field," he said.

"I am pretty sure at this point I would have taken control back because I am the more experienced at manoeuvring the Yak.

"My last recollection was making quite a tight manoeuvre towards the strip to make a landing on the strip and my memory is wiped out because of the crash."

John Cooper QC, representing Flt Lt Parr's widow Alice, asked Mr Calverley: "This was not a forced landing that went wrong, it was a crash caused by you making a bad decision?"

He replied: "We had seconds to make a decision.

"We had a choice of a nice-looking level airstrip or an unknown wheat field. In retrospect it was the wrong decision and I don't deny that."

He also said although he was aware of problems with some of the instruments on the plane, he insisted they played no role in causing the crash.

The inquest continues.