Suicide of hero pilot who regretted his retirement
A RED Arrows pilot and Falklands War hero killed himself in a hotel after becoming depressed at going into semi-retirement, an inquest heard.
Peter Collins, 62, was one of Britain’s most experienced test pilots.
He joined the RAF in the mid-1970s and during the Falklands War flew Sea Harriers with the decorated 809 NAS (Naval Air Squadron). In the 1980s he was promoted to squadron leader and took the highly coveted Red Arrows seat of “Red Two”.
An inquest heard that Mr Collins, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, later became a test pilot. But in 2015 he decided to semi-retire and started to suffer from depression.
The hearing was told that on August 24 last year, at the Holiday Inn in Chester, he hanged himself after a “depressive episode”.
Widow Gudrun Collins told Warrington coroners court how her devoted husband had become increasingly “anxious” after semiretiring and regretted his decision to ground himself.
She said: “He was anxious, thinking he had made the wrong decision. He was not coping with the changes.
“He made a major life decision and regretted what he did. He was worried about the future.”
Just three weeks before he died, his daughter had found him unresponsive at home with a suicide note and called an ambulance.
He told paramedics that drunk two bottles of whisky.
A post-mortem examination found that on the day of his death Mr Collins had drunk the equivalent of two glasses of wine and had died from hanging. He had left a suicide note.
Recording a conclusion of suicide, senior coroner for Cheshire Nicholas Rheinberg said Mr Collins died after a “depressive episode”.
He said: “Mr Collins was a successful man and had a long career.
“He made a decision to retire and become self-employed, but it is clear he regretted that decision.” he had