Snowdonia fatal helicopter crash: Pilot 'didn't see mountain'
- Published
(L-r) Kevin, Ruth, Donald, Sharon and Barry Burke all died while flying from Bedfordshire to Ireland
Five people died in a helicopter crash after the pilot did not see a mountain due to low cloud, an inquest has heard.
Three brothers and two of their wives, from Milton Keynes, were killed when the aircraft hit the Rhinog Mountains in Snowdonia in March 2017.
Kevin, 56, Donald, 55, and Barry Burke, 51, died along with Kevin's wife Ruth, 49, and Donald's wife Sharon, 48.
At an inquest in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, a coroner recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.
An air accident investigator said Kevin Burke, "a highly-experienced pilot", could not see the mountain in front of him.
North west Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said instruments on the helicopter would not have given much warning of approaching high ridges.
"It was sheer bad luck. This aircraft wasn't greatly below its safe height. It just clipped the top of the mountain," he added.
"Ideally because of the limitations of the pilot's licence he probably should have turned back. But he carried on.
"Unfortunately the vertical profile shows the aircraft descending to a height where it was virtually inevitable it would collide with one of the ridges in that area."
The Twin Squirrel helicopter vanished from radar contact over Caernarfon Bay
No faults were found with the controls, but the inquest heard visibility was down to 10 yards in some places due to bad weather.
All five had to be identified by dental records and Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers told the inquest: "They died instantaneously on impact. The impact was non-survivable."
The group was flying from Bedfordshire to Weston Airport in Dublin when they crashed.
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report revealed the weather had deteriorated significantly in Snowdonia after the aircraft took off.
The Twin Squirrel helicopter had descended to 2,060ft (627m) and hit the east side of the Rhinog Fawr mountain in a remote area between Trawsfynydd and Harlech.
Up to 80 people were involved in the recovery of the helicopter, which was a two-hour walk and "scramble" from the nearest road.
Mountain rescuers found a small amount of wreckage 100 metres (330ft) below the summit of Rhinog Fawr.
The crash happened in a remote area of Snowdonia
The family was on its way to celebrate the confirmation of a niece when they were killed
The Twin Squirrel helicopter pictured on an earlier flight
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