A HELICOPTER pilot from RAF Benson who died in a crash in Iraq had "insufficient training", a coroner said.

Flt Lt Kristian Gover died in a Puma helicopter at Basra airport on July 19, 2004, an inquest at Oxford coroner's court heard last week.

Recording a narrative verdict into the death, Oxford assistant deputy coroner, Andrew Walker, said: "Flt Lt Gover was on active service as the non-handling pilot in a Puma helicopter that was at Basra air station while landing downwind at about 10.30am local time on July 19, 2004.

"The crew were not aware that the wind speed had increased from ten knots to 22 knots at the time that they were landing.

"The training of the crew was insufficient to take account of the change in aircraft performance in the operating environment in which they were to fly.

"Flt Lt Gover died in the aircraft, which caught fire following the crash."

The inquest heard that Flt Lt Gover and his pilot, Flt Lt Daniel Brook, were both experienced helicopter pilots, with more than 1,000 flying hours between them.

Flt Lt Gover's father, Tony Gover, said at the hearing: "Let's be quite clear, they (the RAF) were not competent. They crashed. They were incompetent. My son is dead because they were incompetent."

Mr Walker indicated that he would write to the Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, recommending that flight data recorders are installed in all military helicopters, and that a requirement is made for air traffic control to pass on wind speed to landing craft - and for it to be confirmed back to the control tower before clearance for landing is granted.

Following the verdict, an RAF spokesman said: "An internal board of inquiry report into the circumstances behind the loss of the Puma helicopter was published on February 28, 2006, and found that the crash was caused by an inappropriate downwind approach to land.

"Unfortunately, operational flying is not a risk-free activity, but the safety and security of all personnel is a primary objective within the Ministry of Defence, and every measure is taken in order to minimise as far as possible the recurrence of future such incidents."

It was co-pilot Flt Lt Gover and pilot Flt Lt Brook's first mission in the country after arriving in Iraq just a few days previously.

Sqn Ldr Paul Bearblock, who trains helicopter pilots, spoke about exercises on judging wind speeds purely on visual clues - without relying on instrumentation - and the potential for crashing.

He said: "My only experience of a similar situation is in a training simulation.

"We do a very similar exercise (in a simulator) of turning the aircraft downwind, training not to look at instrumentation, but judging the conditions purely from what you can see.

"As you are going round the corner, you will find the aircraft will start to sink.

"The natural reaction is to pull the lever hard up as much as possible and on all the occasions I have done it, only two or three people didn't crash."