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RAF "failed" tragic cadet says mother





Julia Langley-Rice was speaking after the conclusion today (Tuesday) of the inquest into the death of her 15-year-old Nicholas.
Nicholas, from Calcot, had been enjoying a flight experience with retired pilot, Flt Lt Mike Blee, when their plane clipped the tail of a glider on June 14, 2009.
Both aircraft then plummeted to the ground and although glider pilot Albert Freeborn managed to escape using a parachute, both Flt Lt Blee of St Mary’s Green, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and Nicholas were trapped in the plunging plane.
It emerged during the hearing, which began on Monday, that Flt Lt Blee suffered from ankylosing spondylitis, which caused the bones in his spine to fuse together, which meant his back could have been broken in the impact with the glider, leaving Nicholas struggling vainly to open the plane’s canopy to escape as it plunged.
A jury at Oxford coroner’s court was told how Flt Lt Blee had been given the okay to fly by a medic with a drink problem - despite his crippling back problem.
Coroner Alison Thompson said she would be using her powers under the coroner's rules to write letters ensuring lessons were learned from the double tragedy which also claimed the life of Flt Lt Blee.
She said she would be writing to the Civil Aviation Authority, the RAF and also to Thames Valley Police after there was a delay in Flt Lt Blee's family being informed of his death.
Ms Thompson said she also had concerns over the medical supervision of pilots and wanted the RAF to consider running an air traffic control system at RAF Benson at weekends.
See Thursday's Newbury Weekly News for the full report.



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