Full investigation findings one year on from helicopter crash near Lancaster which killed pilot and 16-year-old

Emergency services were called to the incident, off Bentham Road near Burton in Lonsdale, close to the Lancashire border, shortly before midday on Monday, June 20, 2022.

Pilot Ian Macdonald, 66, who owned the helicopter and flew it regularly to and from his home in Burton in Lonsdale and 16-year-old German exchange student Admarsu Birhan who was staying in Burton in Lonsdale were both killed in the crash.

Mr Macdonald, an experienced pilot, was taking Admarsu for his first flight in a helicopter - and had taken off from the Ingleton area at around 9.30am.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report said: "The helicopter departed initially on a westerly track then routed around the Lake District, before returning to the landing site approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes later.

“The pilot did not report any problems during his routine interactions with ATC throughout the flight.

“As the helicopter returned to land at the departure point, it made a left turn away from the landing site and began a shallow climb. It began to yaw to the left, initially with a normal attitude before the nose dropped.

"The helicopter continued to yaw to the left, the nose dropped further and it rapidly descended into a tree.

"There was an intense post-crash fire.

“Both occupants were fatally injured.

"Due to the damage sustained and lack of available evidence, the investigation was not able to reach a definitive conclusion, but a number of possible causes have been identified.”

The wreckage was recovered to the AAIB facility in Farnborough for further examination.

The engine’s external components had been extensively fire-damaged, it was therefore not possible to determine the condition of the ignition, carburation or fuel supply systems.

The report said that an assessment of the reported conditions conducted by the Met Office for the AAIB investigation described the conditions as ‘generally settled with good visibility and little or

no significant cloud.’

The report said that the pilot held a valid licence and medical.

The pilot first obtained his PPL (H) in 2001 and flew Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters until 2016, when he purchased the Cabri G2.

His logbook was onboard the helicopter when the accident occurred and therefore his total hours could not be confirmed.

However, his declared total time on an application form submitted to the regulator in May 2022 was 538 hours.

The report said that the pilot’s post-mortem report recorded the cause of death as ‘unascertained’.

An aeromedical expert commented that, based on the evidence, it was possible that ‘a complete or partial incapacitation could [have] occur[ed] suddenly’.

Analysis of all the evidence available was inconclusive and so the investigation considered a number of scenarios which may have led to this accident.

The investigation concluded the cause was likely to be one or more of the following factors; a mechanical failure, an incorrect pilot response to unexpected environmental conditions, an inadvertent passenger input or restriction on the controls, or pilot partial or complete medical incapacitation.