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Helicopter crash inquest starts Inquest hears crew's last moments
(about 6 hours later)
An inquest into the deaths of three people killed in an RAF Puma helicopter crash in North Yorkshire opens later. Relatives of three men who died in an RAF helicopter crash in North Yorkshire have listened to a cockpit voice recording of their final moments.
Flt Lt David Sale, 28, of Norton on Teesside, and Sgt Phillip Burfoot, 27, from Cardiff, died in the crash near Catterick Garrison in August 2007. The recording was played on the opening day of an inquest into the deaths of Flt Lt David Sale, 28, Sgt Phillip Burfoot, 27, and Pte Sean Tait, 17.
Army recruit Pte Sean Tait, 17, from Castlemilk, Glasgow, died two days later in hospital. One relative left the room as the tape played at Harrogate Magistrates' Court.
Witnesses reported the aircraft "misfiring" before turning on its side and dropping "like a sack of potatoes". A voice could be heard swearing as the Puma aircraft flew near Catterick Garrison in August 2007.
At one point the on-board computer was heard to say "low height".
Laughing and whooping noises could also be heard on the recording.
Final moments
Coroner Geoff Fell said the purpose of the recording was to "set the scene" and it played alongside a map and brief video clip of the inside of the helicopter.
A computer simulation of the final moments of the flight was also played to the court.
Flt Lt Sale, of Norton on Teesside, and Sgt Burfoot, from Cardiff, died in the crash near Catterick Garrison in August 2007.
Army recruit Pte Tait, from Castlemilk, Glasgow, died two days later in hospital.
Sgt Burfoot and Flt Lt Sale both served with 33 Squadron, based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.Sgt Burfoot and Flt Lt Sale both served with 33 Squadron, based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.
Pte Tait had enlisted just a month earlier and had been undergoing training in the Royal Regiment of Scotland Company of the 1st Infantry Training Battalion at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick.Pte Tait had enlisted just a month earlier and had been undergoing training in the Royal Regiment of Scotland Company of the 1st Infantry Training Battalion at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick.
In August, it was announced that no legal action would be taken over the crash after the results of a North Yorkshire Police investigation were presented to the Crown Prosecution Service. Nine other people were injured in the crash.
The inquest at Harrogate Magistrates' Court is expected to last two to three weeks. Close proximity
Mr Fell told the inquest that one of the crew members had told police there had been an "incident" on Salisbury Plain a few days before the crash.
The coroner asked retired Wing Cdr Duncan Trapp if he was aware of the incident, in which the helicopter was said to have come into close proximity to two other aircraft and a model aeroplane.
Mr Trapp said he was not aware of the incident and said such "air proxes" were "fairly uncommon".
He told the inquest that conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had resulted in a reduction in the number of instructors and their availability.
He said that, out of 13 instructors, the squadron sometimes had as few as four available in the "worst case".