Flintshire plane crash couple inquest opens

Gary Vickers and Kaye Clarke died when their plane crash at Hawarden Airport

An inquest has opened into the deaths of the couple killed when a light aircraft crashed in Flintshire last Friday.

North East Wales Coroner John Gittins formally opened the inquests on Gary Anthony Vickers, 58, and Kaye Clarke, 43, both of Chester.

The pair were returning from a trip to Europe when their twin engine light aircraft came down at Hawarden Airport.

The coroner said inquiries into the crash were expected to be extensive.

The plane wreckage has been taken away as part of an investigation by The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch.

The hearing on Tuesday was told post-mortem examinations were carried out at Glan Clwyd Hospital by Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers, who was accompanied by an aviation pathologist.

The provisional cause of death in Mr Vickers's case was head and chest injuries while Ms Clarke, who was a passenger in the plane, died later at the Countess of Chester Hospital of shock and haemorrhage.

Mr Gittins adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.