Suicide of pilot who ‘could have averted crash’

A PILOT who had previously flown the plane which crashed in Cork Airport earlier this year with the loss of six lives, hanged himself because he believed the crash could have been averted if he had been at the controls.

Oliver Lee, 29, had quit Manx2 airlines just two days before the fatal crash on the morning of February 11.

Mr Lee had regularly flown the twice daily Belfast-Cork route for Manx2, but had just left the company to join Jet2.

After he heard the news about the crash, witnesses said Mr Lee’s personality changed and, within a few weeks, he was found hanged near his Yorkshire home.

Homeopathic counsellor, Joce Ormesher, told Bradford Coroner’s Court that Mr Lee “felt if he had been flying, things might have been different and those six people might have been alive. He might have taken different decisions.”

Mr Lee’s father David broke down during the inquest and said his son’s death was “a terrible shock”.

The body was found last Easter Monday in an outbuilding at Cliff Farm, near Bradford, where he lived with his family.

West Yorkshire coroner Professor Paul Marks said that although Oliver Lee was not involved in the crash, the Fairchild Metroliner plane was one he had previously flown.

“Possibly, because of his diligence and attention to detail he could have been involved in that flight and may have averted the fatal outcome that occurred,” Professor Marks said.

He recorded a verdict of suicide.

The plane was piloted by British-born Andrew Cantle, aged 27. Both he and his co-pilot, Jorge Sola Lopez, died in the crash.