Rings identify air crash victims

Emma and Nick O'Brien married last summer and had two young sons

Three people who died when a light aircraft crashed by a railway line were identified with the help of rings found at the scene, an inquest heard.

The pilot Alan Matthews, 59, along with Nick O'Brien, 35, and his wife, Emma, 29, all from the West Midlands, died in the crash near Stafford on 2 January.

The hearing was told an investigation into the crash in Little Haywood could take more than a year to complete.

The inquest in Stafford was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh was told the Ford car of Mr O'Brien, from Shirley, Solihull, was found at the airfield where the Piper Cherokee aircraft was based.

Work colleague

Mr Matthews, a pilot from Walsall, told his wife Jennifer that he was meeting two friends and taking them up in the plane, the inquest heard.

Jewellery belonging to each of the victims were used to help establish their identities, the coroner's officer Howard Carter said.

He said the Air Accidents Investigation Branch had been brought in and the damaged aeroplane had been removed for further examination.

British Transport Police said it was working alongside air accident investigators.

Post-mortem examinations carried out by an aviation pathologist established that all three victims died from multiple injuries.

The O'Briens married last summer and had two young sons, aged 10 and 18 months.

Mr Matthews was a member of a flying club based at an airfield near Lichfield, Staffordshire, and was a work colleague of Mr O'Brien.