Parachutists deaths were accident

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Two other parachutists survived when their single-engined Cessna 206 went down in a field near Beacon Village, east Devon, on June 27 2004.

The inquest in Exeter, Devon, heard the engine was "coughing and spluttering" and the aircraft "dropped like a stone" clipped trees and crashed.

An Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigation said there was no conclusive cause for engine power loss.

The jury concluded the loss of engine power was caused by fuel starvation.

The aircraft, being operated by Devon and Somerset Parachute School, crashed after taking off from Dunkeswell Airfield in east Devon, on its third parachuting flight of the day.

The pilot, 52-year-old Paul Norman, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, died from multiple injuries. He was a chief scientist with the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire.

Flight jumpmaster, 42-year-old welder Richard Smith, and his 17-year-old daughter Claire, both from Winkleigh, Devon, died from a head injury and multiple injuries respectively.

Royal Marine officer Major Mike Wills, 44, from Cove, near Tiverton, Devon, survived the crash, but died later in hospital from multiple injuries. Major Wills, a top parachutist with 5,900 logged jumps to his name was due to make a tandem jump with schoolboy Daniel Greening, then 16.

The teenager - then from Kingsteignton, Devon, and now living in Spain - was making his first ever jump to raise funds for the RNLI, survived suffering a broken pelvis. The fifth parachutist, Daniel Batchelor, 26, from Taunton, Somerset, also survived the crash.