Teenage girls killed in mid-air collision after RAF pilots failed to see each other
Daily Mail
Last updated at 6:14 AM on 3rd November 2010
Two teenage RAF cadets were killed in a mid-air collision after neither pilot saw the other aircraft in time, an air accident report said today. Cousins Katie-Jo Davies, 14, and Nikkita Walters, 13, were killed in the crash, as were the RAF pilots - Hylton Price, 63, and Andrew Marsh, 24. The two Grob Tutor aircraft were difficult to see and their canopy structure may also have led to sighting problems, the report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.
Deaths: Air cadets Katie-Jo Davies, left, and Nikkita Walters were killed in a mid-air collision when the pilots failed to see each other
The girls, both from Evanstown, near Gilfach Goch in South Wales, were Air Training Corps cadets and were pupils at Tonyrefail School in Rhondda Cynon Taf. It was their first flight. The accident, over Porthcawl in South Wales, took place in fine weather on the morning of February 11, 2009. The aircraft were based at MoD St Athan, near Cardiff, with the collision coming in an area which was routinely used by St Athan-based Tutor aircraft, the report said.
The two aircraft collided at about 2,900ft, with the right wing of one aircraft striking the aft fuselage of the other, rendering both of them 'uncontrollable'. The AAIB report said today: 'It is probable that neither pilot saw the other aircraft until immediately before collision, if at all. 'Neither pilot saw the other aircraft in time to take effective avoiding action, if at all.'
Killed: Hylton Price, 63, and Andrew Marsh, 24, also died in the crash over Porthcawl, South Wales, in February last year. They were both experienced pilots
The report added: 'The physical size of the Tutor, together with its all-white colour scheme, would have made it difficult to acquire visually (be seen) in the prevailing conditions. 'It is likely that each aircraft was physically obscured from the other pilot's view at various times leading up to the collision, thus opportunities to acquire (see) the other aircraft were limited to both pilots.'
The report said that Mr Price, from Bridgend, South Wales, and Mr Marsh, from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, were both 'experienced in cadet flying'. The AAIB made no safety recommendations, pointing out that a number of recommendations had been made in a Ministry of Defence inquiry report into the accident which was published in January this year.
At the time, the then Armed Forces minister Bill Rammell told Parliament the MoD report had concluded that 'either the pilots did not see each other or they did not do so until it was too late'. One of the recommendations made in the January 2010 report was that collision warning systems be fitted to training aircraft. A spokesman for the MoD expressed its sympathies for the families, friends and former colleagues of those who died in the 'tragic accident'.
He added: 'Today's AAIB independent review follows an earlier RAF service investigation which made a number of substantial and wide-ranging safety recommendations. 'These are being implemented and collision warning systems will now be fitted to all Tutor aircraft within the next two years. 'It is encouraging that no further safety recommendations were considered necessary by the AAIB and both investigations came to similar conclusions about the cause and contributory factors of the accident.'
