Three people killed in a helicopter fireball crash into an Isle of Wight field during a flying lesson died of multiple injuries, a coroner's court heard today.
Captain Simon Hewitt, 54, died alongside horseriding instructor Justyna Czoska, 52, and lorry driver Wojciech Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, when the helicopter came down on the August Bank Holiday Monday.
The trio had been taking part in a session aboard the Robinson R44 II helicopter, while a fourth person - a man in his 30s - was airlifted to hospital from the field near the A3020 Shanklin Road on August 25.
Isle of Wight Coroner's court was this afternoon told all three victims were pronounced dead at the scene and post-mortem examinations have revealed they died as a result of their injuries.
The brief inquest opening, held in Newport, was told that emergency services were called to a field near Ventnor on the morning of August 25, following multiple 999 calls reporting that a helicopter had crashed.
