Pilot may have caused fatal plane crash by switching to empty fuel tank

The pilot and three parachutists died when the Cessna crashed five miles from Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon.

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Wreckage: what was left of the Cessna 206 after the crash

Royal Marine Major Mike Wills, aged 44, was hailed a hero after the crash after it emerged he had sacrificed his own life to save an air cadet making his first parachute jump for charity.

The Major braced himself against a bulkhead and took the full force of the impact so 16-year-old rookie skydiver Daniel Greening would be saved.

Daniel, from Kingsteignton, Devon and parachutist Daniel Batchelor, aged 26, from Taunton, were the only survivors of the crash three years ago.

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Pilot Dr Paul Norman, aged 52, from Salisbury, jump master Richard Smith, aged 42, and his daughter Claire, aged 17, both from Okehampton, Devon, also died in the crash.

Pilot Dr Norman was chief scientist for chemical and biological defence at the Porton Down weapons establishment but was also an experienced flier and parachutist.

Air Accident Investigation Branch investigator Mr Nicholas Dann told the inquest Dr Norman had been involved in a previous incident in which he aborted a landing after switching fuel supply during take off.

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Hero: Royal Marine Mike Wills

He said the engine was heard spluttering before Dr Norman crashed as he hit high trees while trying to reach a clearing in dense woodland.

He said after the crash fuel was seen leaking from the tank in the right wing of the Cessna 206 but the supply was switched to the tank in the left wing.

He said records of refueling were not kept accurately enough to say how much, if any fuel was in the left side tank.

Pilot Paul Norman was also killed in the crash

He said: "There is no requirement to keep records but it would have been good practice. It would enable the pilot to know how much fuel he had in which tank.

"There would have been sufficient fuel on the aircraft to have completed the flight. It is possible he changed tanks immediately prior to the accident to try to sort out the problem.

"As the level of fuel in a tank drops it is likely that more air and less fuel will progressively be drawn in leading to increasingly intermittent operation and finally to complete loss of power."