A pilot from Canterbury who was killed when his helicopter crashed into cliffs was not in any way to blame, an inquest has ruled.

Captain Brian Bridgman, 58, and close friend and passenger John Kent, 50, both died when the aircraft plunged into a 200ft cliff face in Yorkshire in September 2014.

Investigators discovered that a catastrophic mechanical failure had caused the crash, with an inquest jury last week unanimously concluding Capt Bridgman had not been at fault.

Both deaths were ruled accidental.

Speaking after the two-day hearing at Hull Coroner’s Court, Capt Bridgman’s children, Katie, 34, and Timothy, 31, said the verdict has brought them “much relief and peace”.

“The verdict was the right one and this means the world to us,” they said.

“It has been a long battle to get to this point. Since this tragic accident, we have known all along what had happened on that day and now the jury has unanimously come to the same conclusion.

“It brings us much relief and peace to be able to now focus solely on our memories of dad and not this ongoing process.”

Capt Bridgman and Mr Kent had been flying back to Kent from Edinburgh when the helicopter’s engine failed.

A report by crash investigators said: “A loss of engine power occurred due to the failure of bearings within the turbine assembly, the cause of which could not be determined.

“When the loss of engine power occurred, the helicopter was not in a position from which it could land safely.”

Alan Thorne, from the Department for Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, surveyed the wreckage a day after the accident.

Giving evidence in court, he said: “The power turbine had some damage to the bearings that supported it, which would explain the power loss. The bearings were no longer working effectively and a number of them were damaged. That would have caused the failure.”

Mr Thorne said he was unable to identify what had caused the issue with the bearings because the helicopter was too badly damaged in the crash.

Capt Bridgman, who lived in The Ropewalk on the Tannery estate, had more than 4,000 hours’ flying experience and operated for a commercial transit firm based at Manston Airport.

He was also a Civil Aviation Authority flight examiner, flight instructor, night rating course instructor and crew resource management instructor.

His family have now called for improved aircraft safety and warning systems.

They said: “While it will always be extremely difficult for us to live knowing that dad and his friend John lost their lives due to a ‘catastrophic engine failure’, we sincerely hope that the regulators will now focus on improving safety and warning systems within the aviation industry so that other families do not have to go through the quite simply harrowing times which we have experienced.

“Words cannot describe how much we love and miss our father.”