Kevin and Ruth Burke (pictured) died along with Mr Burke’s brothers Barry, 51, and Donald, 55
A helicopter pilot made a fatal error and failed to turn around in poor visibility before a horror crash killed him and four members of his family, an investigation concludes.
Businessman Kevin Burke, 56, had the option to ‘turn back, divert or land’ when he was flying his family to Dublin for a party in low cloud.
His wife Ruth, 49, brother Donald, 55, and his wife Sharon, 48, were killed along with his other sibling Barry, 51, after the crash in Snowdonia, North Wales, on March 29 last year.
The five, from a wealthy Anglo-Irish family, lived in the Milton Keynes area and were travelling to Ireland to celebrate the confirmation of a young relative.
Their elderly mother Noeleen Burke was left heartbroken by the deaths of her ‘generous and loving’ children when the privately-owned helicopter crashed in the Rhinog Fawr mountains.
Mrs Burke, from Milton Keynes, who is in her 80s, became a widow when the boys’ father, her husband Donal died three years ago. She has one remaining daughter.
But her children died when the Twin Squirrel aircraft they were in struck the side of Rhinog Fawr Mountain at an altitude of 2,000ft.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that the pilot made ‘no attempt to turn back’ in the difficult conditions.
This family photo shows at least one of the three brothers Kevin Burke, front right, killed in the helicopter disaster. His mother Noeleen is pictured leaning in towards to a female companion
The five inside the helicopter were all killed when it crashed in the Rhinog Fawr mountains near Snowdonia
A system which alerts pilots when they are approaching high terrain was available for the GPS equipment used by the helicopter, but it was not fitted, the report said.
The investigators concluded: ‘There was no other means of warning the pilot of the rising ground.’
The bodies of the victims were found with the wreckage near Trawsfynydd.
At the time of the tragedy, a family friend said: ‘The family were flying in to attend a confirmation for a niece and wanted to surprise her on the big day.
‘They were due to arrive in for a party that evening. Then word started to filter through that something was wrong during the afternoon, but the family made every effort to keep their composure’.
Donald Burke (pictured left playing golf) was the third brother who died in the horror crash
This is the helicopter they were in when it came crashing down near Snowdonia in North Wales
Another relative said: ‘We were all a very close family. We’re absolutely devastated. They were coming to Dublin for a family confirmation.
‘Kevin was a very experienced pilot. He never took chances. He was an excellent pilot and he had a lot of flight hours and he never took risks.
‘They only decided to come when they checked the weather, which was supposedly okay, but it doesn’t look like it was.
‘We were all looking forward to seeing them. We’re all devastated. They were lovely people and they were very family orientated. We were all very close. Kevin was generous and loving. They were all generous and loving people.’