Inquest After Harborough Man Killed In Plane Crash
Written by HFM News on 13th July 2022
An inquest has heard a man from Market Harborough died when the light aircraft he was a student in crashed in Oxfordshire.
Thomas Castle, who was aged 30, was killed alongside instructor and experienced aerobatics pilot Emily Collett in August 2019.
The hearing has been told Mrs Collett may have suffered a heart attack before the bi-plane nosedived to the ground, ten minutes after taking-off from an airfield in Berkshire.
Prof Simon Kim Suvarna, a cardiac pathologist, told Oxford Coroner’s Court an examination of her heart showed one of her arteries was narrowed by between 80 and 90%, meaning Mrs Collett had a critical degree of coronary artery disease, which she would have been unaware of.
She was in the front seat of the plane at the time, while Mr Castle, who was an aircraft engineer, was in the back seat.
The plane crashed in a field in the village of Stonor, near Henley-on-Thames and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The inquest continues.
