AN RAF helicopter pilot was attempting a manoeuvre beyond his capabilities when his aircraft crashed killing himself and two colleagues, a coroner has ruled.

Coroner Geoff Fell said the fatal accident took place near Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, in August 2007 against a backdrop of “deteriorating administration, airmanship and discipline”.

Mr Fell said tactical manoeuvres performed by the inexperienced aircrew at under 100ft were “excessive in number and regularity”.

He also criticised the running of RAF Benson, in Oxfordshire, where the £20m Puma was based before flying north to take part in the training exercise.

Pilot Flight Lieutenant David Sale, 28, from Norton, near Stockton, and Sergeant Phillip Burfoot, 27, from Cardiff, both of 33 Squadron, died in the collision.

Private Sean Tait, 17, from Glasgow, died two days later in hospital. He was a recruit with The Royal Regiment of Scotland, undergoing training at the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick.

Nine other military personnel were injured, including copilot Flight Lieutenant Bobby Hamilton, who was left paraplegic from his injuries.

Recording a narrative verdict at the end of the threeweek inquest at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court, Mr Fell said: “The pilot of the helicopter was attempting a flying manoeuvre which was beyond his capabilities, those of the Puma, or a combination of both.

“Against a background of deteriorating administration, airmanship and discipline, the helicopter crashed.”

On a clip from the Puma’s cockpit voice recorder played during the inquest, a voice was heard to say: “S***, s***, s***” – when it is believed the helicopter nearly collided with trees – while on another a former Army captain said: “Permission to say “Yee-ha, Jester’s dead”– a line from the film Top Gun.

In his summing up, Mr Fell repeated accident investigators’ comments that the crew should at this point have gained altitude, before dropping off their passengers and asking themselves “Why did we nearly kill each other?”

The coroner also criticised inspectors who had visited RAF Benson months before the accident.

He said he was “disturbed”

it took North Yorkshire Police to identify shortcomings at the base.

“At the time of the incident the administration at RAF Benson left much to be desired,”

he said.

The inquest has heard from former senior officers at the base who admitted that the demands of Afghanistan and Iraq meant they had “taken their eye off the ball”.

Mr Fell said the aircrew were undertaking their first trip without an instructor watching them.

The hearing was told paperwork authorising the crew to carry out the training exercise was either missing or incomplete.

The coroner said it was unclear if the crew were properly qualified for the flight.

The inquest was told the flight was an unscheduled exercise to give sick or injured recruits a morale boost and the experience of being in a helicopter. The soldiers had been in the Army for four weeks.