Pilot's thanks for air crash help

The plane came down in cloud onto the mountainside

A pilot who survived a light aircraft crash in Snowdonia, which killed his passenger, says he wants to return to the area to thank his rescuers.

Brian Vaux, 61, from Pontypool, has undergone extensive treatment for brain and spinal injuries after the Cessna accident near Bethesda last September.

His passenger, Stuart Kingsbury, who was 73 and also from Pontypool, died.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Mr Vaux said he would always be haunted by the crash which killed his friend.

"He'd been a long-standing friend for over 40 years and he was probably the first person who introduced me to general aviation, light aircraft.

"He was a wonderful guy, helped me a lot and I've been devastated by his death, devastated and I'm sure it will haunt me for the rest of my life," said Mr Vaux, who is being treated in a rehabilitation centre in Pontypool.

His widow still says it was a terrible accident - and that's all that it was - an accident Brian Vaux

The pair had taken off from Caernarfon when the aircraft came down in cloud in the Ogwen Valley.

Mr Vaux recalled what happened.

"I was very lucky in that a lady fell runner heard the aircraft going over and heard the impact of us hitting the hillside and immediately ran down and alerted the rescue services," he said.

He described how members of a mountain rescue team came to help - along with a paramedic who was dropped at the accident site by police helicopter.

He was eventually lifted off the mountain by RAF rescue helicopter from Valley on Anglesey and taken to hospital in Bangor.

Volunteers

"I would certainly like to pay tribute to those people for the assistance they gave me which was quick and, basically, I owe my life to them.

"I would just basically like to...thank them for their help because when you consider the mountain rescue people are just volunteers."

"Hopefully if I make a full recovery I'd like to go back to the area to meet some of the people involved to thank them for their response and assistance on that day," added Mr Vaux.

He said he had been enormously helped by Mr Kingsbury's family. His widow Frances had visited him in hospital "on numerous occasions"

"His widow still says it was a terrible accident - and that's all that it was - an accident."

The emergency services were alerted by a jogger

Paul Smith, a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue, said they would be pleased to host the injured pilot.

"It's obviously very nice to hear people survive after these incidents because very often we don't hear from people - they go off to a hospital somewhere else in the country and we very often don't get the follow up, so that's very nice," said Mr Smith.

Mr Smith also described the accident scene.

"The plane was actually lying upside down and the canopy over the cockpit had been crushed.

"Both occupants were presumably hanging from their seatbelts after the impact and its obviously a thin line because the passenger sadly died and Brian was very lucky to come out alive."