Millionaire pilot’s mistake killed him and 4 of his family
A MILLIONAIRE pilot killed himself, his wife, two of his brothers and his sister-in-law when he flew into cloud – conditions he was not qualified to tackle.
An inquest heard Scots-born company director Kevin Burke, 56, should have turned back from a ‘complex weather system’ in the Snowdonia mountains.
He failed to see a mountain named Rhinog Fawr and was killed instantly along with wife Ruth, 49, brothers Donald, 55, and Barry, 51, and Donald’s 48-year-old wife Sharon.
The family, from the Milton Keynes area, were flying to Dublin on March 29 last year for a surprise party.
A hearing at Caernarfon was told that ‘very experienced’ pilot Mr Burke, who was born in Stranraer, Wigtownshire, had set off in good conditions near their home.
But as the aircraft passed over North Wales they came across thick cloud and turbulence.
The alarm was raised in the early evening when Mr Burke’s Twin Squirrel aircraft did not land at Dublin as expected.
The bodies were later found in the helicopter wreckage.
Investigators concluded that fellow company director Ruth was in the front passenger seat next to her husband.
Property developer Donald, his wife Sharon and Barry were in the rear.
Dr Brian Rodgers, consultant forensic pathologist, said all five suffered massive impact trauma from the collision and were identified from their dental records.
Toxicological tests on Kevin Burke showed he had consumed cocaine prior to the crash but Dr Rodgers ruled it was ‘highly unlikely’ the pilot was under the influence of the drug at the relevant time.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch senior inspector Paul Hannant said Mr Burke held a private pilot’s licence, was ‘very experienced’ and had previously flown the route. However, his licence did not allow him to fly in cloud.
In the deteriorating weather, Mr Hannant said Mr Burke should have completed a 180-degree turn away from the rising ground.
Recording verdicts of misadventure for all five victims, North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: ‘Here we have a situation of sheer bad luck. This aircraft was not greatly below its safe height, it just clipped the mountainside.’