Royal Navy pilots complained about being ‘overworked’ and of ‘woefully unreliable’ helicopters before a tragic crash earlier this month, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Instructors also asked for more time to train students before a fatal accident which killed three crew members and destroyed their ageing Merlin.
Lieutenant Commander Chris Gayson, 42, Flight Lieutenant Lily-Mae Fisher, 31 and Petty Officer Owen Green, 24, died when their chopper, callsign ‘Sword 01’ crashed in a field in Somerset on 3rd June.
The tragedy was the second to strike the same Royal Navy unit in three years, following the death of helicopter pilot Lieutenant Rhodri Leyshon
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