A PILOT and his teenage passenger were killed when they crashed in the French Alps, an inquest has heard.

Andrew Buck, 37, and Lewis Stubbs, 18, were part of a group of four planes from Eshott in Northumberland which were travelling to Malta in July, 2019, when the tragedy occurred.

Sunderland assistant coroner Andrew Tweddle heard that the group left England on July 21 and were making the journey in 80-minute legs.

On July 24, they left Barcelonnette-Saint-Pons Airfield in France heading for Italy.

The inquest heard that the weather conditions were good and the route had been well planned.

But the group took a wrong turn up the Maddalena Pass instead of the Larche Pass and whilst three of them managed to turn round, one had to make a forced landing.

The two-seater piloted by Mr Buck, who was a respected pilot but the least experienced of the party particularly over mountainous terrain, then turned back to check on the crashed plane.

But the manoeuvre went wrong and the craft stalled and spun into trees.

Mr Buck, from Seaham, and Mr Stubbs, from Gateshead, both suffered head injuries, bone fractures and fatal internal organ damage.

Ruling the deaths accidental, Mr Tweddle said a combination of factors had caused the tragedy.