At least four of five passengers in a helicopter in which a top jumps owner suffered serious injuries were not wearing seatbelts, an investigation has found.
Dai Walters, who also built Ffos Las racecourse, was unconscious and given CPR when he was rescued from the wreck of the helicopter which suffered “catastrophic damage” when it hit trees during take-off in November 2022.
Trainer Sam Thomas was one of the other passengers who escaped the crash with minor injuries.
The details were contained in a report by the Air Accident Investigations Branch into the crash which occurred during a night time departure from an unlit field near a shooting lodge in Denbighshire.
Investigators found the accident resulted from “the unintended rearward transition of the helicopter into a stand of trees.”
The report said Walters, who was 76 at the time, had been sitting in the rear of the cabin and that the some of the other passengers, “if not all, had ended up on top of him”.
He was found lying unconscious at the bottom of the cabin and was manually extracted from the wreckage by the passengers and others.
“At this point he was in significant medical distress,” the report said. “The casualty was carried to the lodge and CPR was administered by the pilot under the guidance of the emergency services operator.”
Walters regained a reportedly “more-normal” colour but had not fully regained consciousness when taken to Glan Clwyd Hospital.
According to the AAIB the investigation “thought it likely that, had all passengers been secuired by their seat harnesses, the level of injuries sustained could have been less severe”.
It said an aircraft commander has a legal obligation to ensure passengers are given a safety briefing and that all harnesses are secure before take-offs and landings.