A PILOT from Pitton died while practicing for an air show because he lost control of the aircraft in strong winds, air accident investigators have concluded.

Trevor Roche, 52, crash-landed the De Havilland DH53 Humming Bird in an airfield just before the Military Pageant Air Show at Old Warden Aerodrome near Biggleswade on July 1 last year.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report says the weather conditions and the challenges of handling the rare, vintage aircraft, even for a competent and experienced pilot, were likely to blame.

Mr Roche, a former test pilot at Boscombe Down, was flying the aircraft from the Shuttleworth Collection in a practice flight before the air show in the afternoon.

He had 14,780 hours of flying experience, having secured his private pilot’s license when he was just 17, before joining the RAF, later becoming a military test pilot before joining British Airways.

The report said there was no evidence of mechanical failure.

Mr Roche had spoken to the chief pilot about the weather before his practice flight, and was told the conditions had led to some planned flights with less experienced pilots being cancelled.

But the chief pilot “saw no reason to disagree with the accident pilot’s own assessment that the weather was acceptable for the planned flight”.

The emergency services were on the scene a minute after the accident but Mr Roche is believed to have died instantly after suffering serious head injuries.

The air show was immediately cancelled by organisers.