A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE and his wife died in a helicopter crash moments after the tycoon had attempted a tricky manouvere in high winds, an inquest has heard.

Paul Spencer, 43, who ran a dried flower business, and his wife, Linda, 59, were flying the military-style Gazelle aircraft he had bought hours earlier at an angle, just above the tops of trees in the grounds of Rudding Park Hotel, near Harrogate.

At the start of a four-day hearing in Harrogate, Coroner Rob Turnbull told a jury: “It is likely at the time of the accident the pilot was trying to observe the chalet, for which he had the helicopter in a precarious position.”

The inquest follows follows Mr Spencer's flying instructor, former Army captain Ian King, 53, being jailed for six months in February for falsely signing off the entrepreneur’s incomplete training records weeks before the tragedy.

Mr Turnbull said a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in 2009 found the pilot's inexperience, coupled with his inadequate training, were the probable causes of the accident at 4.25pm on January 26, 2008.

He said a police helicopter pilot had described the 44-knot gusting winds at 500ft at the time of the crash as difficult flying conditions.

The hearing was told that while Mr Spencer was an experienced fixed wing pilot, but lacked the skills to control the lengthy aircraft he had collected from Essex that morning.

Witnesses told the inquest of seeing the helicopter flying around the area as Mr Spencer tried to spot his family, which had gone shopping in nearby Knaresborough.

Scott Woodford said he was at the Follifoot Riding Centre when he saw the helicopter spin and somersault.

He said: “At first I thought it was an outlandish manouvere or a stunt before I realised it was going to crash.”

Rudding Park resident Bernard Reed said it had appeared that a gust of wind turned the helicopter over before he saw it go into a nosedive.

After hearing a thud, he raced to the scene to find the aircraft lying on its side with its engine smoking and the couple strapped in their seats.

After finding no pulse in Mrs Spencer, he saw Mr Spencer’s lips move, but moments later he had no pulse either.

A post-mortem examination found the couple, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, had both died from multiple injuries.