Heroic pilot praised

The plane was on a test flight from Humberside airport

The actions of an ex-RAF pilot who died ensuring his passenger escaped safely from a plane crash have been described in an official accident report.

John West, 51, of Barnack, Lincolnshire, was putting the privately-owned BAC Strikemaster jet through a series of manoeuvres so it could retain its permit to fly.

Mr West, a former RAF Wing Commander, put the plane into a deliberate spin but was unable to regain control.

He waited for his passenger to successfully eject which did not leave enough time for him to survive.

'Eject, eject'

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said Mr West followed his military training in ordering his passenger, Tony Lyth, 51, of Whitby, Yorkshire, to eject first.

The report said the passenger had remembered the pilot shouting "Eject, eject".

The report continued: "The observer ejected just within the survivable ejection-seat performance envelope.

"The aircraft by now was only a few hundred feet from the ground and well below the recommended minimum ejection height of 5,000 feet above ground level.

"There was insufficient time remaining for the pilot to survive."

Loose spanner

The AAIB's examination of the plane wreckage found a spanner beneath the fuselage.

The report said: "Although it seems unlikely that the spanner played any part in the events leading to the accident the possibility cannot be entirely discounted.

"The presence of loose articles, especially tools, is a well-known hazard, particularly to aircraft that perform aerobatic manoeuvres."

A verdict of accidental death was recorded on Mr West at an inquest in June.

A post-mortem examination revealed he died instantly from multiple injuries.

Before the crash on 9 December 2000 he had amassed 10 years of test-flying experience with Global Aviation, based at Humberside Airport.