Here's the full text of the narrative conclusion of HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire, published with his permission
Lynx Inquest - Oxford Coroners Court 15 March 2016 - Narrative Conclusion
On Saturday 26 April 2014 at approximately 10:30 local Afghan time, Lynx Helicopter ZF540 crashed approximately 20 kilometres south of Kandahar Airfield in the Chaghray Ghar Valley, Afghanistan. All 5 on board (3 crew and 2 passengers) died from multiple injuries and the effects of fire. The aircraft was the lead aircraft in a formation of two Lynx helicopters conducting a live fire exercise in an area known as the Bowling Alley which is part of the Texas Helo Range. The incident occurred on the 6th serial of a race track pattern when the aircraft commander instructed the handling pilot to conduct an earlier left descending turn into the valley which required a higher rate of descent than the previous serials. The other Lynx helicopter was ahead in the valley range and it was necessary for the crew to locate it and maintain separation whilst descending. There was a loss of situational awareness with respect to height and rate of closure with the ground resulting in a misjudgement of height over the featureless desert surface leading to an impact with the ridge of a dried up riverbed not seen by crew until too late, about 1 second prior to impact with the ground. The radar altimeter which provides a warning to the crew of proximity to the ground was set below the authorised minimum at only 25ft and did not alarm in time to enable the crew to prevent the aircraft being accidently flown in to the ground. The accident was contributed to by under manning and an unsatisfactory system of training on the squadron resulting in the potential for cumulative fatigue and skill fade.
Mr D. M. Salter
HM Senior Coroner for Oxfordshire
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