PILOT AND BOY DIED IN SKYDIVE EXERCISE

Inquest finds that aircraft lost altitude after steep left turn

- ROD MINCHIN

A PILOT and a young child died when their plane crashed during a skydiving exercise, an inquest heard.

Neil Bowditch, 47, and seven-year-old Kacper Kacprzak, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, were killed during the horror accident in Offaly in May 2018.

Mr Bowditch was flying the Cessna light aircraft as part of a skydiving exercise at Clonbullogue Airfield.

In England, Somerset Coroner’s Court in Taunton heard that 16 skydivers, including Kacper’s father, had jumped from the aircraft at an altitude of 13,000ft shortly before the incident.