Failed stunt 'caused air crash'

The aircraft crash led to the closure of part of the railway line for several days

A plane crashed onto a railway line killing three people because the unlicensed pilot may have been attempting an aerobatic stunt.

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.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the Piper Cherokee's documents were incomplete.

It said the crash probably happened when Mr Matthews lost control.

High speed

The AAIB report said the cause of the crash was not mechanical failure.

Investigators said the light aircraft suddenly started a steep nose-down descent.

The plane hit the West Coast Mainline at Colwich Junction, near Little Haywood, at high speed.

The aircraft took out overhead power lines, which led to the closure of that section of the railway line for several days.

Mr and Mrs O'Brian, of Shirley, near Solihull, had taken off with Mr Matthews from Sittles airfield, near Lichfield.

Emma and Nick O'Brien were passengers in the light aircraft

The couple who had two children, Callum, aged 10, and 18-month-old Joel, were believed to have known Mr Matthews, who lived in Walsall, through work.

The report said Mr Matthews' pilot licence had expired in January 2003 and his last recorded medical examination had been in 1995 and should have been renewed two years later.

It said Mr Matthews, who was a member of Sittles Flying Club, had been known to perform manoeuvres in the past and it was "possible that this is what he was attempting, but that he lost control of the aircraft".

It said there was no evidence he had received training on how to do those moves.

The AAIB said the aircraft's documents did not show that the required maintenance had been correctly performed.

It added that since the accident, Sittles Flying Club had put in place measures to ensure all documentation for pilots and aircraft was regularly checked.

Club secretary John Gattrell said he understood Mr Matthews owned the aircraft himself.

Mr Gattrell said: "As a pilot you are responsible for all your own documents - the club does not need to check those, there is no legal requirement.

"We do it now just to check everything is in order."