A PILOT involved in a helicopter crash which killed three people phoned his girlfriend just minutes before the fatal accident to say he was enjoying his best day's flying, an inquest heard today.

Flight Lieutenant Robert Hamilton was left paraplegic as a result of the injuries he suffered in the Puma crash near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, on August 8, 2007.

Mr Hamilton, the non-handling pilot on the day of the accident, enjoyed fish and chips with his crew members before having a cigarette and phoning his girlfriend.

Moments later he and his colleagues were performing low-level, high-speed manoeuvres above North Yorkshire on what was scheduled to be the last flight of the day.

He phoned his future wife to say: "It was the best days flying I'd had."

He told the inquest in Harrogate: "I was given the chance at 25 years old with a couple of friends on a helicopter learning to fly and doing some live trooping without having an instructor looking over me. A bit more freedom really."

He admitted he was not as experienced a pilot as his good friend Dave Sale, who was at the controls of the Puma when it crashed at 8.50pm.

Flight Lieutenant Sale, 28, Sergeant Phillip Burfoot, 27, and 17-year-old Army recruit Private Sean Tait were killed in the accident.

A total of 12 military personnel were on board the helicopter which was taking young Army recruits on a morale boosting training exercise.

Mr Hamilton described some of his own flying as "agricultural" rather than smooth, but described Mr Sale as a confident and self-assured pilot, but not domineering in the cockpit.

"He definitely seemed a lot better. I was learning things from him all day," he told the inquest.