Pilot saw men 'flung to deaths'

Sgt Mark McLaren and Colour Sgt Mark Powell died north of Baghdad in 2007

An RAF pilot has told an inquest how he saw two servicemen "flung" to their deaths in a helicopter crash in Iraq.

Colour Sgt Mark Powell, 37, from south Wales, and Sgt Mark McLaren, 27, from Northumberland, were crushed under a Puma helicopter during landing in 2007.

The pilot, referred to as Witness 4, said he saw two people fall out of the right-hand door of their aircraft.

The inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, has heard the Puma collided with another helicopter north of Baghdad.

The incident happened as the Puma landed near Taji in the early hours of 15 April 2007.

Landing attempt

Colour Sgt Powell, from Porthcawl, near Bridgend, of the Parachute Regiment, and Sgt McLaren, from Ashington, of the RAF, were found dead underneath the aircraft which had rolled on to its right side.

They were on a mission as part of a task force made up of five Pumas.

A first helicopter, Puma One, landed safely but Puma Two - carrying Colour Sgt Powell and Sgt McLaren - got into difficulties as it attempted to land alongside.

Witness 4, a flight lieutenant who was piloting a third helicopter, Puma Three, said he saw the two servicemen thrown from their aircraft as he hovered at about 165ft (50m).

Speaking at the inquest from behind a curtain, he said: "I saw two people fall out of the right-hand door. It was as the nose of the aircraft was facing my aircraft, they seemed to be flung out of the door.

"It was very quick, just a flash of what I saw. It was the crewman and a soldier.

"As the main rotor started to hit the ground, quite a bit of debris and dust was thrown up. I could still make out the helicopter's outline."

Witness recall

Coroner David Masters told the pilot he was concerned about the lack of air-to-air communications between the helicopters.

The pilot replied: "We try hard to keep radio chatter to a minimum. The radio lines are temperamental."

He added: "It was working well that night. But if there's particularly bad interference it's sometimes unusable."

The pilot said he did not believe the helicopters were sufficiently near for their rotor blades to hit each other.

"To me, it did not look close enough for them to hit. I couldn't be 100% certain. If they had been closer, my attention would be drawn to it, because it's unusual," he said.

The coroner said in the light of the pilot's statement he would have to recall the air accident investigator who had said there was clear evidence that the blades had clashed.

The inquest will resume on Tuesday when it is expected to conclude.