A CORONER has raised concerns about the qualifications of an RAF Benson crew flying a Puma helicopter which crashed and killed three servicemen.

Geoff Fell told the inquest at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court today that “people on the helicopter were doing things they shouldn’t have been” in the moments before the crash on August 8, 2007.

Flight Lieutenant David Sale, 28, Sergeant Phillip Burfoot, 27, and Army recruit Private Sean Tait, 17, died in the crash at Hudswell Grange, near Richmond, in North Yorkshire.

Another crew member, Flt Lt Robert Hamilton, was left paraplegic as a result of the injuries he suffered in the accident.

On the first day of the inquest, Mr Fell said questions needed to be answered about whether two members of the RAF crew were properly qualified.

The inquest heard criticisms of administration procedures at 33 Squadron, based at RAF Benson.

The coroner said he had concerns about safety measures in place on board the helicopter as it took part in a two-day training exercise in North Yorkshire, working with troops from the Catterick Garrison barracks.

Mr Fell was commenting as he questioned retired Wing Commander Duncan Trapp about procedures at the squadron.

“It seems to me there are some important issues here that Mr Trapp should be able to answer,” he said.

“There’s a thread running through this that people on the heli-copter were doing things they shouldn’t have been.”

Mr Trapp told the inquest that the demands of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had resulted in a reduction in the number of instructors and their availability.

He said that, out of 13 instructors, the squadron sometimes had as few as four available in the “worst case”.

The inquest heard that Flt Lt Sale, who had 571 hours of flying experience, was due to go on a tour of duty to Iraq later that year.

Earlier, the families of the three men who died listened to a cockpit voice recording of the final moments before the crash.

At one point, the on-board computer was heard to say “low height”.

Mr Fell said the purpose of the recording was to “set the scene”. It was played alongside a picture of a map and brief video clip of the inside of the helicopter.

A computer simulation of the final moments of the flight was also played to the court.

One relative left the packed courtroom as the graphic showed how the helicopter appeared to bank right over a building before striking the ground tail-first.

Sgt Burfoot, from Cardiff, and Flt Lt Sale, from Norton, in Stockton-on-Tees, died in the crash.

Pte Tait died in hospital two days later from his injuries.

He was from Castlemilk, in Glasgow, and had been undergoing basic training in the Royal Regiment of Scotland Company of the 1st Infantry Training Battalion, at Catterick Garrison.

The inquest continues.