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- British pilot Robert Mansell forced to crash-land, saving all passengers' lives He had been flying across the Caribbean in 2009 when an engine failed But he died when he was knocked unconscious during the crash-landing Inquest heard he voiced concerns to employers about overweight planes It was revealed the flight in which he died was overloaded by 961 pounds
A hero pilot had voiced concerns about flying overweight planes just days before he died in a crash landing he was forced to undertake that saved the lives of his nine passengers.
Robert Mansell, 32, managed to safely land his twin-engined aircraft near land in the Caribbean after sending out a mayday message when an engine failed.
His expert flying enabled his nine Dutch passengers to escape the aircraft and they were picked up by rescue boats, off the island of Curacao.
Tragically, Mr Mansell, from Knowle, Solihull, died after being knocked out when the aircraft hit the ocean.
Passengers on the October 22, 2009, flight tried to save him but his safety harness was damaged and they couldn’t release him from the cockpit.
A postmortem revealed the 32-year-old died from drowning, after suffering a head injury in the crash landing
But the pilot's skillful crash landing ensured he had saved the lives of his nine Dutch passengers
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| The plane was travelling from Curacao to Bonaire (pictured inset) in the Caribbean when the accident happened |
Inquest into his death was held at Birmingham Coroner’s Court yesterday. A postmortem revealed Robert died from drowning, after suffering a head injury.
The plane sank 600ft to the bottom of the ocean minutes after hitting the water
The inquest revealed that he had expressed concerns about the overloading of the British-made Britten-Norman plane to his bosses at Divi Divi Air on a number of occasions.
He had also spoken to his father Roger about safety fears in the days before his death.
The inquest heard from Air Accident Investigator Timothy Atkinson, who said the maximum weight limit for the plane was 6,250lbs but the crashed plane had weighed in at 7,211lbs.
An investigation revealed the company was regularly sending planes into the skies dangerously overweight, he claimed.
Passengers were also not weighed but an average weight taken for each person getting on the plane.
Mr Atkinson said an aeroplane could cope with being overweight with two working engines but not when one fails.
The Dutch Safety Board carried out its own investigation and made recommendations to the Curacao Aviation Authority to address the issues of flying overweight aircraft and to tighten controls.
Mr Atkinson told the inquest: 'The overloading of the planes was a systemic habit with the airline
The inquest revealed the plane’s right engine cut out shortly after taking off from Hato airport to Flamingo, some 40 miles away from the crash scene.
Mr Atkinson said Mr Mansell could have turned around and headed back to Hato Airport but made the decision to carry on to Flamingo after alerting air traffic control to the situation.
But only seconds away from land he was forced to ditch his plane into the sea. The force of impact smashed his cabin windscreen and water started pouring into the cabin.
He was knocked out and despite the efforts of fellow passengers they weren’t able to free him and he sank to the bottom of the ocean with the plane.
The jury recorded a narrative verdict which said the 'aircraft was significantly overweight.'
Mr Mansell was a former pupil at Arden School and Solihull Sixth Form College and had studied aeronautical engineering at Bristol University before obtaining his pilot licence in 2006.
He became a captain shortly after.
He had moved to the Solomon Islands in 2007 where he worked as a pilot before moving to the Netherlands Antilles in 2008 and he had a Dutch girlfriend called Myrte.
Mr Mansell, pictured, obtained his pilot licence in 2006 and became a captain shortly after he had moved to the Solomon Islands in 2007 where he worked as a pilot before moving to the Netherlands Antilles in 2008. Mr Mansell is pictured in the background giving a thumbs-up
Speaking after the inquest, his father Roger, a retired civil aviation engineer, paid tribute to his son who he labelled a 'hero.'
The 78-year-old said: 'Robert had spoken to me about his concerns with regards to the plane regularly being overloaded on several occasions and had made his concerns known to his employers. Nothing was ever done to address the issue.'
He said his son was renowned for his 'infectious' character and courage, doing bungee jumps and cage diving with sharks on his travels.
The father said: 'I am so proud of him in every way. He was a wonderful son who lived live to the full. He loved his motorcycles and his cars and was a tremendous guitarist and singer. He was a man of many talents.
Robert Mansell's plane pictured once it had been pulled from the ocean after the crash
'As a pilot myself I know the difficulty of landing these planes in the situation he found himself in. If he wasn’t a good pilot, he couldn’t have ditched it so everyone could be saved. Other pilots wouldn’t have known what to do - but he landed the aircraft so that everyone could get out safely. If he hadn’t ditched the aircraft properly it could have somersaulted over and would have most likely killed everyone on board.
'I am so proud of him - he really is a hero.'
He described his son as 'an incredible force of nature'.
The father of two, who broke down in tears as he spoke, said: 'He was just an incredible person. He loved anything mechanical, he loved his motorbikes.
'He went off to study both mechanical and aeronautical engineering at university and aced that.
'Then he went to qualify to be a pilot, he worked his way through all the qualifications until he had the equivalent of a PHD in flying.
'He had been offered a job flying safaris in Africa before he went to the Caribbean for another job offer. He just loved to travel, all his friends did.
'I could write a book about that plane crash, as you know I worked in aviation myself, but that's all been done now.
'He met a beautiful Dutch girl in the Netherlands Antilles and they had plans together for the future before it all came to a sudden end.
'I have had people from all over the world contact me since he died. Every one of the passengers has spoken to me, and talked about how he saved their lives. Pilots have to go through six monthly tests and he aced every single one of them.
'He was just a very, very popular and brilliant young man.
'The moment his friends heard about the crash they all jumped on a plane to go out there, that's how much loyalty he inspired.
'His sister loved him so much and he was the apple of his mother's eye, although her time also came early.
'When I think of what he did it makes me incredibly proud, but it also makes me cry. We miss him so much. He was just a force of nature, we were lucky to have known him and got to spend time with him. He was a born leader and just flew up the rankings as a pilot, the recession hit his career but he was back on track.
'We are just proud of everything he ever did.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2766568/Hero-pilot-warned-airline-bosses-plane-dangerously-overloaded-days-fatal-crash-landing-Caribbean.html#ixzz3HwonrR00