Maverick pilot killed our son, say Shropshire parents

Ian Lovell was on a "joy flight" in Australia, bought as a birthday present by his girlfriend, when the plane crashed into the Pacific.

The pilot, Barry Hempel, had been told he could not take paying passengers following a string of breaches of aviation rules and had a history of epileptic seizures.

But he continued to fly after being allowed to keep his private licence, despite warnings from the ambulance service about his health following a fainting episode.

In the last recording from the cockpit, Mr Lovell shouts to the apparently lifeless pilot as the aircraft falls towards the sea.

Mr Lovell, from Shifnal, died in the crash in Moreton Bay, Queensland, on October 31, 2008.

In a new coroner's report, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) is severely criticised for failing to fully withdraw his licence despite warnings from the Queensland Ambulance Service in 2002.

Today Mr Lovell's mother, Lynn, said the coroner's report had brought closure after five years of campaigning to find out what had happened, and she wanted to see his recommendation for a mandatory register of pilots brought in as soon as possible so all conditions on licences were public.

She said: "It's something that should never, ever have happened.

"Barry Hempel was a maverick, a cowboy and a liar, everything you wouldn't want to know in a person."

The experienced pilot had not reported any problem to air traffic control, although the inquest heard that Mr Lovell had accidentally transmitted a message in which he was heard to ask, in an "extremely alarmed state": "Oh my God, what are you doing? Put it up."

Mr Hempel did not reply, suggesting he was unconscious, possibly through an epileptic fit. Queensland Coroner John Hutton, said: "The ambulance report ought to have put Casa on red alert as to Barry Hempel's ability to fly. It is unbelievable that Casa did not act."

The inquest was told that a consultant who recommended that Mr Hempel should be allowed to continue flying under a private licence had not been passed information about his fainting fits and the possibility he suffered epilepsy.

Mr Hutton said: "During the inquest it became obvious that Casa medical officers were cavalier in respect to the ambulance reports and Casa medical officers chose to disregard the observations of trained paramedics.

"There seemed to be within Casa a culture of accepting whatever the pilot says, notwithstanding evidence by trained paramedics to the contrary. The fact that Casa did not test the truthfulness of Barry Hempel's assertions and withdraw his licence after a due and diligent inquiry proved absolutely disastrous."

The coroner decided that the evidence indicated that Mr Hempel had suffered an epileptic fit and lost control of the aircraft.