Inquest opens into Shifnal microlight crash
Two Market Drayton men died when the microlight aircraft they were flying in crashed at Shifnal, an inquest heard.
Flying club members raced toward the microlight when they realised it was going to hit the ground, the hearing was told.
The inquest into the deaths of two men who lost their lives in the crash will be held in front of a jury, coroner Mr John Ellery confirmed yesterday.
Tony Crocombe, 64, of Kiln Bank Crescent, Market Drayton, and Lawrence Michael Sumner, 66, also of Market Drayton, died when the aircraft crashed as it was coming in to land in Shifnal on May 30.
It had taken off from its base at the Longford airstrip in Market Drayton and was believed to be heading for an airstrip at Shifnal which is run by a local flying club when it crashed just before 4pm.
At a pre-inquest hearing at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, yesterday, Mr Ellery, the coroner for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, said that the full inquest would be held before a jury on October 30.
Yesterday he heard from experts from the Air Accident Investigation Branch who answered a range of questions ranging from aerodynamics to the icing of aircraft carburettors.
The investigation branch recently published its report into the crash.
The report said the aircraft had been manoeuvring in the circuit at Shifnal Airfield, having flown there from its base near Market Drayton.
“While appearing to reposition for an approach to land on Runway 28, the aircraft was observed to stall and possibly enter a spin,” the reports said.
“It did not recover before striking the ground in a field to the east of the airfield. The pilot and his passenger were both fatally injured.”
Both men suffered multiple injuries.
Mr Crocombe, who was born in Lancaster, was an aircraft engineer and the owner of the microlight.
Mr Sumner, was a records officer at Stoke Heath Prison. Both men possessed current and valid fitness to fly certificates.
The wreckage was taken to Farnborough for examination.
The air investigation report reveals how club members watching the microlight above Shifnal realised something was wrong.
“The aircraft was observed to roll abruptly, in a manner suggesting a wing-drop stall, from which it recovered. Then, a little further from the airfield, still on an easterly track and at low height, the aircraft banked left and appeared to enter a spin, descending from the witnesses’ view.
“Realising that impact with the ground was inevitable, the witnesses rapidly made their way towards the aircraft, while telephoning the emergency services.”
