Puma crash RAF base 'was badly run'

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Coroner Geoff Fell said the running of RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, where the crew of the £20 million Puma were based, "left much to be desired".

Flight Lieutenant David Sale, 28, Sergeant Phillip Burfoot, 27 and 17-year-old Private Sean Tait died in the crash near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, in August 2007.

The fatal flight was the final trip on a two-day training exercise which saw members of the crew laughing and joking, listening to music over the speaker system and quoting the Tom Cruise film Top Gun.

The coroner said the helicopter's pilot, Flt Lt Sale, may not have had the capability to carry out the risky manoeuvre which led to the crash.

However, he went on to highlight a series of contributing factors to the crash, including the poor administration at the base. Paperwork was either missing or incomplete and the coroner said it was unclear if the crew were properly qualified for the flight.

Mr Fell said the crew members on the day of the crash were "inexperienced" and were undertaking their first trip without an instructor watching them. The coroner added that most of the flying on the day of the crash "seems to have taken place at less than 100ft" and added that the tactical manoeuvres were "excessive in number and irregularity". He said the crew was "oblivious" at times and there was a deterioration in discipline.

The court was told the crew had been left "shaken" by an earlier low-level manoeuvre, known as "bottoming-out". Experts said that, after this incident, the crew should have dropped off their troops, stopped for a cup of tea and discussed "why they were nearly killed".

Recording the narrative verdicts, Mr Fell said: "The pilot of the helicopter was attempting a flying manoeuvre which was beyond his capabilities, or those of the Puma, or a combination of both. Against a background of deteriorating administration, airmanship and discipline, the helicopter crashed."

Speaking outside Harrogate Magistrates' Court, Group Captain Jonathan Burr, Station Commander at RAF Benson, said there had been changes in the way administration procedures were carried out. Mr Burr said: "The verdict ... will reinforce action we have already taken. We have changed the way that we supervise, manage and task our Puma operations, both at home and overseas, to ensure that such events are not repeated as far as is humanly possible."