Royal Navy pilot, 31, died in helicopter crash after commander 'accidentally turned off engines' during English Channel exercise
The helicopter 'ditched' over the water within three minutes, leaving two injured and one dead, the inquiry heard
A Royal Navy pilot died after his helicopter crew misdiagnosed an engine fracture and shut down the aircraft's remaining active engines, an enquiry has heard.
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Lt Rhodri Leyshon was killed three years ago when a helicopter he was the right-hand seat pilot of went down over the English Channel at night.
A report filed by the Defence Safety Authority found that the helicopter was conducting landing training on the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier when the crew were alerted to an emergency onboard.
The issue in question was misdiagnosed by crew members, which led to the fatal crash within three minutes of alarms sounding.
“Rhod was my delightful son and I, Rhod’s sisters, partner and extended family, miss him every day,” said Lt. Leyshon’s mother, Mary Scourfield.
“I know that he would have done everything within his power to get the helicopter back. It is therefore heartbreaking to see that he was put into this situation.”
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The emergency onboard was a rubber diaphragm breaking inside the number two engine’s high-pressure fuel pump assembly.
The helicopter responded as intended, which was to reduce the rotor speed of engines one and three.
However, the crew were not made aware of which engine was experiencing issues, so diagnosed the problem as occurring in engines one and three, not two, because their rotor speeds had changed.
The handling pilot onboard stated three times within 21 seconds that the aircraft was flying on one engine. No crew member challenged the assessment formally, and the commander transmitted a MAYDAY report that there was double engine failure.
The team then was reported to work in isolation during the emergency, with each member looking at separate issues and not processing information from each other. This is when, 70 seconds into the emergency, the commander mentioned shutting down the remaining engines.
According to the report, the engine switches were then manually moved from FLIGHT to OFF. This led to the helicopter rapidly losing height. The commander issued one last MAYDAY call and said they were “ditching” the aircraft.
The helicopter then plummeted to the sea, and rolled onto its right side. While the commander and the other crew member were able to escape with minor injuries and climb into a life raft, Lt Leyshon was left severely injured because, per the report, he was "unable to escape from the aircraft as it entered the water" and his life jacket failed to inflate.
Lt Leyshon's rescue mission was made more difficult as the wreckage had drifted, one rescue boat launched without night vision aids, and one rescue helicopter was not fitted with a hoist. Additionally, the forward floatation bags did not operate, and the starboard floatation bag did not fully inflate.
He was pronounced dead from his injuries in hospital.
“We are grateful to the [Defence Safety Authority] and the Defence Accident Investigation Branch for their thorough analysis, which while deeply upsetting has provided some of the answers about what happened,” said Lt. Leyshon’s father, Tim Leyshon.
“Rhod was not only a cherished son, he was a much loved friend and highly respected colleague. We believe that he was let down by people and systems beyond his control. We miss him more than words can say.”