Man praised for urinating on burning aircraft

A man who urinated on the burning wreckage of an aircraft in a bid to save the pilot's life has been praised by a coroner for his quick thinking. Colin Bright was told the light aircraft had come down behind his house and he instinctively ran to the crash site and relieved himself over the engine to stop it bursting into flames. After drenching the gyrocopter he then grabbed handfuls of wet grass and shoved it inside the smouldering engine before fighting in vain to pull pilot Brian Errington-Weddle from the cockpit.

He was unable to save the 57-year-old's life but Mr Bright, 30, won praise from coroner Michael Johnston for his actions at an inquest into his death. The coroner declared Mr Bright had shown "great common sense" adding: "I believe one of the queens of France did this when her lady in waiting's wig caught fire." The former army officer plummeted to the ground in his RAF 2000 in Kington Magna near Gillingham, Dorset, in October 2008. He was only a few miles away from Henstridge airfield, on the Somerset-Dorset Border.



In a written statement Mr Bright told the inquest: "There was a lot of smoke coming from the wreckage, from the right side of the pilot, who was in a sitting position but not moving. I was able to smell fuel and thought there might be a fire so I urinated on the wreckage and ripped wet grass and chucked it into the smoke and that seemed to work." He attempted to pull the experienced pilot free but his legs were trapped. Other locals raced to the scene and also tried unsuccessfully to free him.

The inquest heard the aircraft was "particularly challenging" to fly and the arrangement of the aircraft means it can be unstable and the rotors can drop down, striking the propeller. Accident Investigation Branch senior inspector Andrew Blackie told the Dorchester hearing the instability of the aircraft was part of the appeal for pilots. He said: "That is possibly why people like them. If everything was stable there wouldn't be such a challenge." Verdict: Accidental death.