A Co Westmeath pilot who died when his biplane "nose-dived" into a field near the Shannon in Co Roscommon last June was an accomplished pilot who had taken part in air displays and films, according to gardai. An inquest into the death of Mr Oliver "Sammy" Bruton (53), of Ballysallagh House, Ballynacargy, Co Westmeath, found that he died from multiple head, chest and spinal injuries sustained in the bank holiday weekend crash just after 6.20 p.m. on Sunday, June 1st.
The inquest heard that Mr Michael Burke, lock-keeper at Albert Lock, on the Jamestown canal, was one of several witnesses to the crash.
According to Garda evidence, the yellow biplane "would appear to have nose-dived into the ground" as there was a large hole in the ground. The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene.
The pathologist's report outlined Mr Bruton's multiple injuries. There was no evidence of a heart attack and there was no alcohol present.
Mr Bruton had flown in an air display near Carrick-on-Shannon earlier and was returning home via Abbeyshrule air base in Co Longford when the crash occurred.
The inquest heard that an ESB worker attended to fallen power lines at the scene and that two electricity cables were given to gardai the following day. A Garda spokesperson later told The Irish Times that all the indications were that the plane collided with the overhead wires.
The spokesperson explained that Mr Bruton was in the habit of flying low over that particular area as he kept both a seaplane and a boat on the Jamestown canal. He would often wave to the local lock-keeper and his family as he flew past.
The chief aeronautical officer at the Department of Public Enterprise's Air Accident Investigation Unit, Mr Kevin Humphries, is also investigating the crash.