Deaths in plane crash 'accident'

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Two friends died when their light aircraft went into a spin and crashed into a farm field in Northamptonshire, an inquest has heard.

The inquest jury found that the deaths of pilot Paul Hanley, 35, and Michael Ryan, 34, were accidental.

The two had set off in Mr Hanley's own Grumman light two-seater aircraft from an airfield in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, on 17 November 2005.

The inquest heard the aeroplane was inherently unstable and was overloaded.

Mr Hanley, a marketing consultant, had bought his own light two-seater aircraft in the month before the crash and considered himself as an average pilot.

'Difficult to recover'

Carrying a full fuel load and the two men, the Grumman aircraft was more than 180lb (67kg) over its weight limit and was off balance, the hearing at Northampton General Hospital was told.

Nicholas Dann, of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, said Mr Hanley was flying to the west of Northampton and was just 21 minutes into the flight when the plane stalled, falling into a flat spin before crashing in a field near Bugbrooke.

He said the aeroplane was fast but suffered poor stability and was prone to stall suddenly.

He said: "This aircraft is difficult to recover from spin.

"The worse combination is this: where you have an overweight aircraft with the weight in the wrong place."

The hearing heard how Mr Hanley, from Duston, had been due to take his girlfriend for a flight but took IBM computer worker Mr Ryan when she said she had too much work to do.

Passion for flying

Both men suffered multiple injuries in the crash. Passers-by first on the scene tried to give first aid but Mr Hanley died almost immediately from head and neck injuries including a massive fracture to his skull.

Mr Ryan died later the same day in hospital.

In a statement read to the court by Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember, Mr Hanley's mother Julia said he rarely spoke of his passion for flying as his parents disapproved of his hobby.

Mr Hanley first learnt to fly at 17 when he won an RAF scholarship but did not get his private pilot's licence until 2005.

Mrs Hanley said: "I felt that it was an extravagant hobby and the money could have been better spent on his house or on a more sound financial future for (his son) Kieran."