Mark Bulstrode

A 16-YEAR-OLD pilot crashed to his death after being confused as he prepared to land, an inquest heard yesterday.

Sam Cross, from Hornchurch, east London, died when his single-engined plane plunged into a park in Southend, Essex, in July 2006.

The inquest, held in Southend, heard the teenager had been told to delay landing at Southend Airport and to circuit the area instead.

Steve Lane, air traffic control officer, said he issued the guidance because another aircraft was arriving at a faster speed, but told the jury it "would have been an entirely different decision-making process" had he known of Sam's limited flying experience.

He said he would not have issued the instruction if he had been in possession of all of the facts.

"Had I been aware he was a student, a low hours student, it would have been an entirely different decision-making process," he told the jury. I would have been extremely reluctant to deviate the (aircraft) from what he expected to do."

Brian Andrews, who was a chief flying instructor at Seawing Flying Club when Sam was a member, said: "He would have found that very confusing at that stage."

He said Sam was not trained in the manoeuvre and added: "We have never asked a student to do an orbit at low height."

The inquest heard that national guidelines have been changed following the incident. Pilots are now required to tell air traffic controllers if they are a student. Witnesses reported seeing the plane falling from the sky in a "corkscrew" fashion a short time after Sam's flight path was diverted.

The inquest was told Sam's parents, Yvette and Jim, and their other sons, Jimmy and Danny, were not attending the hearing. They wrote a letter to coroner Peter Dean, which said: "It's not that we can't be bothered, it's just that we can't mentally and physically attend."

The inquest was adjourned.