KATHMANDU: One of Britain's leading test pilots has died of altitude

sickness in the Himalayas while helping investigators of last week's

Thai Airways crash.

Father of three Gordon Corps, 62, was part of the Airbus Industrie

team looking into the crash of the Airbus A310-300 in which 113 people

died.

A Nepalese official said Mr Corps collapsed from high-altitude

sickness at 11,500ft on the Talkuassir mountain.

He died while being brought down to the camp where the salvage

operation was based.

Mr Corps, who lived in Toulouse, France, had tested more than 100

aircraft including Concorde and was one of the UK's most experienced

test pilots.

''Gordon was well known and liked within the aviation industry and

held in the highest regard, especially in the pilot and engineering

community,'' said a spokesman for Airbus, in which British Aerospace

(BAe) has a 20% stake.