Helicopter crash cause unresolved

Jean and Mark Price died along with their 14 month-old son Samuel

The cause of a helicopter crash which killed a husband and wife and their 14-month-old son remains a mystery, air accident investigators have concluded.

Mark Price, 39, his wife Jean, 33, and baby Samuel died when their helicopter crashed in a field near Sevenoaks, in Kent, on 19 July 2003.

The family, from Chessington, Surrey, had taken off from Biggin Hill airport.

Investigators said if the helicopter had had a "black box" recorder they might have found why it had crashed.

The privately chartered helicopter crashed shortly after take-off

The privately chartered Hughes 500 aircraft, piloted by Mr Price, came down in Cudham Lane South, Knockholt, at about 0950 BST, shortly after taking off in good weather, bound for the Canterbury area.

Emergency services were called within minutes after being alerted by a member of the public who witnessed the crash.

The family were pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who arrived by air ambulance.

Witnesses reported hearing unusual noises coming from the aircraft which they thought were consistent with changes in engine power, an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report released on Thursday said.

No emergency call

The AAIB said that it was "extremely likely" Mr Price would have taken the necessary action to prevent the aircraft striking the ground if he had been aware of its proximity.

The report said: "Therefore, it seems either that he may not have realised their predicament until the final moment or there was some obscure fault within the helicopter's power train or flight control that left no post-impact evidence."

It said there was no evidence of any pre-crash faults in the aircraft and the pilot did not make an emergency call on the radio.

The helicopter was not required to have either a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder, and investigators have since urged they should be more widely fitted.