Mark Weir. Photo: Jeff Morris

Mark Weir. Photo: Jeff Morris

The helicopter in which controversial Honister Slate Mine owner Mark Weir died had a counterfeit maintenance certificate.

And an investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch following the fatal crash near the Lake District tourist attraction revealed Mr Weir was not qualified to fly at night.

Mr Weir had split opinion in the Lake District with his plans for a 1.2m-long zip-wire at the site on the side of Fleetwith Pike. He also set up Britain’s first via ferrata route for paying customers on the side of the mountain.

He was fatally injured when his Gazelle helicopter hit the fell nose-first near his mine at 7.07pm on 8 March last year.

The AAIB, the Department for Transport body that looks into the causes of air incidents, said there was no evidence of mechanical failure but it was fitted with a military engine which invalidated its airworthiness certificate in the UK.

Mr Weir’s Gazelle was Hungarian registered and he held a crew member certificate issued by the Hungarian Civil Aviation Administration which validated his private pilot’s licence for flights in Hungarian-registered aircraft.

Investigators said: “The engine was overhauled by an unapproved repair facility in Serbia and issued with a counterfeit EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency] Form 1.

“A number of serious airworthiness issues were identified with the helicopter during the course of the investigation.

“None of these issues could be directly linked to the cause of the accident, but did raise concerns regarding the way the helicopter was operated.”

The AAIB said the complexity and severity of the issues found and the fact that they are common to a number of other fatal accident investigations conducted of foreign-registered aircraft in the UK warranted a separate safety study.

The investigators speculated that Mr Weir might have been attempting to return to the mine because of poor weather conditions or because he realised the interior light of his car, in the mine’s car park, had been left on.

It was also possible that the helicopter’s canopy had misted up in the cool conditions.

The AAIB inspectors said: “The pilot completed a licence proficiency check with a freelance examiner, formerly a British military pilot, in July 2010.

“The examiner stated that he had conducted a number of proficiency checks with the pilot in recent years and considered him to be of above average flying ability, adding that his skill level was similar to that of a British military helicopter pilot of two or three years’ operational experience.

“The pilot did not hold a night qualification, and there was no evidence that he had undertaken training towards one.”

Mark Weir and Jan Wilkinson, who reported him missing

Mark Weir and Jan Wilkinson, who reported him missing

Mr Weir was born and brought up in the Lake District and was familiar with the terrain, they said, but could have had difficulties making out the land features in the conditions.

Although mechanical failure was not a factor in the accident, they said: “Different components had been fitted to the airframe from those recorded by the Hungarian operator.

“As such, their life-remaining calculations were incorrect. No service life records or EASA Form 1’s for these components were found and there were no maintenance records of their installation. As such the remaining fatigue life of these items, if any, was unknown.

“A number of the components fitted to the helicopter were confirmed to be ex-UK military in origin. At least one was traced back to Ministry of Defence records, which confirmed it was sold as unserviceable and with an unconfirmed service history.”

They also found a fire-warning bulb in the helicopter’s panel had been removed because it was likely to give a false alarm.

Their report added: “Fluid levels within various components on the helicopter were found to be much lower than expected, with no obvious leaks identified. This might indicate poor maintenance practices or missed maintenance checks.”

The fluid in the aircraft’s pedals, used to control yaw, was low. The report added: “The pilot’s difficulties may have been compounded by the helicopter’s handling characteristics at low speed, the degraded performance of the yaw damper and the possibility that the helicopter entered vortex ring.”

Vortex ring is where downwash from the rotor blades is recirculated into a downward force that affects their ability to maintain lift.

The AAIB said: “His decision to depart in the prevailing weather conditions, and from a site with no cultural lighting, suggested either a lack of awareness of the inherent risk or an acceptance of the risk.

“During a flight at night in challenging circumstances, control of the helicopter was apparently lost, or the pilot became disorientated to the extent that safe flight was not maintained. The helicopter impacted terrain and the accident was not survivable.”

Mr Weir’s final words to his partner Jan Wilkinson before taking off on the ill fated flight were: “I love you.”

When he failed to arrive home at their near Cockermouth, she reported him missing.

Mountain rescue teams found the wrecked helicopter about 300m from Honister Slate Mine. Mr Weir, still in the pilot’s seat, had been thrown clear of the main wreckage.

Ms Wilkinson said her partner’s love of flying dated back to childhood when, at the age of four, he watched in fascination as a Gazelle helicopter landed in a field at his parents’ farm at High Lodore.

Ms Wilkinson said: “He didn’t want to fly just any helicopter it was always a Gazelle. He wasn’t striving for a million pound helicopter; it was just a Gazelle. Seeing that Gazelle helicopter as a little boy sparked his imagination in flying.”

She spoke last year of being touched by the support the family had had since Mr Weir’s accident. “We never realised how many people admired, loved and were touched by Mark,” she said. “The hundreds of cards, phone calls, flowers and emails have amazed us. I would like to think Mark would have been embarrassed by it but I can’t because he would have loved it.”

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