Fatal Norfolk helicopter crash was an accident

It was an entirely preventable accident - that's the view of lawyers representing families of two of the men killed when a helicopter crashed in Norfolk two years ago.

Wealthy businessmen and Conservative peer Lord Ballyedmond died when his company's Agusta Westland came down just seconds after leaving his country house near Beccles.

The other victims were his foreman, Declan Small and the two pilots, Captains Carl Dickerson and Lee Hoyle.

Their deaths were accidental, according to a jury at their inquests in Norwich.

The inquest heard that the aircraft was well maintained and had no defects. It was due to be flying to Northern Ireland, where Lorry Ballyedmond had significant business and political interests.

Representatives from the Air Accident Investigation Branch said the pilots could have become disorientated in the fog. The cockpit voice recorder revealed one of them had concerns about taking off in the fog.

The jury was told a flight from a commercial aerodrome in those conditions would not have been allowed, but it was permissible from a private site.

Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake says she'll write to the authorities over her concerns about this.

The widows of the two pilots left the inquest without making any comment.

Click below to hear watch a report from ITV News Anglia's Malcolm Robertson