Walsall pilot who crashed on rail line was doing air stunts

Oct 8 2009 By Edward Chadwick

THE pilot of a light aircraft which crashed on to a Midland railway line, killing him and a Solihull couple, was attempting aerobatic stunts, it was revealed today.

Air crash investigators said Alan Matthews, aged 59, from Walsall, appeared to have lost control while attempting an aerobatic manoeuvre.

It resulted in the Piper Cherokee he was flying nose-diving into a high-speed impact on the West Coast Main Line at Colwich Junction near Little Haywood, Staffordshire.

He died along with passengers Nick O’Brien, aged 35, and his wife Emma, aged 29, from Shirley.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Debris at the scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

Nick O'Brien and his wife, Emma O'Brien, who died in a plane crash in January of this year.

The Piper Cherokee 140 light aircraft that crashed into the overhead power lines of the West Coast Main Line on January 2, 2009.

Alan Matthews, an unlicensed pilot, from Walsall, who died when he crashed his Piper Cherokee 140 light aircraft.

Crash victims Nick and Emma O'Brien on their wedding day with family.

Emma and her son Joel at her wedding in August 2008.

The scene after a light aircraft crashed onto the railway line at Colwich Junction, Staffordshire.

A section of the main London to Scotland railway line had to be shut for several days after the accident, causing travel chaos for thousands of rail passengers.

Aircraft maintenance records for the plane were incomplete and did not show that the required maintenance had been correctly performed, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said in a report today.

But the accident, appeared to have been the result of a loss of control while Mr Matthews was attempting an aerobatic manoeuvre and not as a result of mechanical failure.

The report said that on previous flights Mr Matthews was known to have performed manoeuvres known as “wingover” and “stall turn” and it was “possible that this is what he was attempting, but that he lost control of the aircraft”.

The crash happened on January 2. Mr Matthews and the O’Brien’s, who had two children, had taken off from Sittles airfield near Lichfield.

The report said Mr Matthews’ pilot’s licence had been validated until January 2003. According to Civil Aviation Authority records, his last recorded medical examination was in 1995 and his medical validity expired in 1997.