Low flying led to rider's death (From Free Press Series)

Low flying led to rider's death

RIDER was killed when her horse was spooked by a low-flying military helicopter and ran into oncoming traffic, an inquest heard.

Mother-of-two Melanie Stephenson-Dodds, from Ash Tree Road, Caerwent, died while trekking with her friend, Sophie Jones, along a grass verge of the A48, near Caerwent, on December 17, 2003.

And now her grieving father is calling for an inquiry into how military exercises are conducted in the area.

Witnesses at Newport coroner's court gave accounts of how a noisy RAF Puma helicopter "suddenly" appeared at 9.20am above the stretch of A48 near the Wentwood Inn.

Both horses bolted, but while Ms Jones was able to control her mount, her companion's darted into the road and was hit by two cars; a Mazda and an overtaking Renault Saffron.

The impact caused the horse to roll over its rider, and 39-year-old Ms Stephenson-Dodds died as a result of her injuries.

Accident investigator PC Dean Burnett, of Gwent Police, confirmed that both vehicles were within the 60mph speed limit and could not have avoided the tragedy.

Flight Lieutenant Piers Nicholas Hammond, a pilot of four years' experience who flew the helicopter that day, stated the flight was part of a competent crewman exercise which involved low flying to a minimum of 50 feet.

He refuted any suggestion that the helicopter had dipped below 50 feet, explaining that warning alarms would have operated if this had happened. He claimed the crew did not see the accident and were not informed of the fatality until they returned to their base at RAF Benson, Oxford.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Gwent coroner David Bowen described the tragedy as "unintentional and deeply unfortunate".

"While every care is taken when planning routes, it is inevitable there are going to be times when animals will be affected," he said.

"Nine times out of 10 this has no serious consequences, but on this occasion it led to a death."

The victim's father, Keith Stephenson-Dodds, said he accepted the need for military exercises but believed an inquiry should look into why a more rural area wasn't used.

"I do not understand why they need to fly so low over populated areas," he said. "And why was the aircrew so oblivious to the accident? "If they're that observant, what are they doing up there in the first place?"