Yesterday’s inquest revealed that the Ministry of Defence may not have adhered to the Human Rights Act in failing to protect the life of an engineer from Red Arrows who was killed in training exercises.
Corporal Jonathan Bayliss, 41, died instantly when a Hawk T1 erupted into a ‘ball of flames’ as it hit the runway at RAF Valley, in Anglesey, north Wales.
The RAF engineer’s family claim there was a ‘systemic failure’ by the MoD.
Corporal Jonathan Bayliss, 41, died instantly when a Hawk T1 erupted into a ‘ball of flames’ as it hit the runway at RAF Valley, in Anglesey, north Wales.
And at the opening of an inquest into the death today, a coroner confirmed there had been an ‘arguable breach’ of Article 2 of the Human Rights Act, which covers cases where the state ‘fails to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk’.
Pilot Flight Lieutenant David Stark ejected from the plane ‘half a second’ before it hit the runway in March 2018.
He did not have enough time to warn Bayliss who was behind in rear cockpit. He died instantly after impact.
An investigation by the Service Inquiry Panels (SIP) found that Mr Stark, 38 years old, was almost certainly tired and distracted during the incident.
This image shows Pilot Flight Lieutenant David Stark (circled) ejected from the plane just moments after the tragedy occured in March 2018
Katie Sutherland was the acting senior coroner in north-west Wales. She said that she would decide after the hearing whether or not she needed to send a notice asking the MoD to take steps to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.
The court heard that the jet took off from RAF Valley in the hope of simulating an engine breakdown as part of a practice exercise.
The SIP inquiry found that the plane crashed due to its inability to recover from the low altitude.
The report also said Mr Stark’s routine did not include ‘sufficient time for rest’, which was a contributory factor in the crash.
Yesterday, Squadron leader Steve Morris, who was with the Red Arrows for seven years, told the Caernarfon inquest that he was teaching a student on the runway at the time of the crash.
He admitted there was ‘intense’ pressure on pilots, such as Mr Stark, who were in their first year with the display squadron.
He said: ‘The pressure you feel under, you put yourself under, can be intense, definitely, particularly during the spring months where you are starting to develop formations.’
He confirmed he had instructed Mr Stark previously and insisted he had no concerns ‘at all’ about his abilities as a pilot.
In a statement read to the court, the family said they wanted lessons to be learned from Mr Bayliss’s death and for necessary action to be taken to protect other servicemen and women.
At a previous hearing, Charlotte Law, representing Mr Stark, said her client hadn’t gone against his training, orders or guidance when conducting the manoeuvre.
Instead she referred to safety parameters being ‘insufficient’, which amounted to a ‘systems failure’ that posed a risk to the occupants of the aircraft.
The inquest continues