Airbus Broughton staff disciplined over Hawarden crash

Two workers at Airbus's Flintshire site have been disciplined after posting pictures of a fatal air crash on social media websites.

Gary Vickers, 58, and Kaye Clarke, 43, both of Chester, died after the crash at Hawarden Airport last November.

The airport is on the site of Airbus's Broughton plant, and pictures of the crash were taken.

Airbus said photography was not allowed on site and two people had been disciplined.

A spokesman said: "Airbus can confirm that an investigation was launched after photographs were taken on the Broughton site following the tragic accident in November and shared on social media channels.

"In common with many manufacturing facilities, we do not allow photography on site except by authorised people and only under certain circumstances.

"As a result of this investigation, we can confirm that two people working on the Broughton site were found to be in breach of company procedures and were subject to the associated disciplinary action.

"For reasons of confidentiality we are not able to provide further details on the nature of this disciplinary action."

Mr Vickers and Ms Clarke were returning from a trip to Europe when their twin engine light aircraft came down at the airport.

An inquest was opened and adjourned but heard the provisional cause of Mr Vickers's death was head and chest injuries.

Ms Clarke, who was a passenger in the plane, died in hospital of shock and haemorrhage.

The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch is investigating.