A coroner has told a pilot in a fatal plane crash there was nothing he could have done to avoid the tragedy.

Max Rippon had been flying a light aircraft, with his wife Danielle as a passenger, when it crashed and struck an oak tree in a field.

Mrs Rippon, 66, died at the scene.

An inquest jury returned an accidental death verdict and coroner Rachel Redman told Mr Rippon: "I believe there was nothing you could have done to avoid this tragedy.

"It was a terrible fluke of nature that the plane collided with the oak tree."

The crash happened just minutes after the plane had taken off from an airstrip at Fridd Farm, Bethersden, on September 30, 2007.

The inquest at Dover heard that the plane had encountered engine trouble mid-air and Mr Rippon tried to land safely. But Mr Rippon couldn’t reach the runway in time and the plane ended up striking the tree.

The inquest at Dover heard that Mrs Rippon’s safety harness had failed in the impact, throwing her forward and striking the aircraft’s instrument panel.

A pathologist told the inquest that had the harness remained intact she may have suffered no more than the minor injuries sustained by her husband.

The Department of Transport’s Air Accidents Investigations Branch probed the cause of the crash and said the engine trouble had been caused by a blockage in the carburettor.

Mr Rippon, 76, of The Street, Smarden, said told the inquest he remembered very little about the crash but said after the hearing he was satisfied with the jury’s verdict.

For a full report from the inquest, see this Thursday’s Kentish Express.