AN inquest into the death of an aerobatics pilot and her student after a plane crash in Oxfordshire will be heard in front of a jury at the end of the year.

Champion pilot Emily Collett, from Uxbridge, was flying with student Thomas Castle, from Market Hanborough, when their plane ‘nose dived out of the sky’ and crashed into a field between Stonor and Middle Assendon on August 25.

A pre-inquest review at Oxford Coroner’s Court yesterday heard that the pair had taken off in the blue-and-yellow biplane from an airfield near Maidenhead, Berkshire, that morning.

The inquest was opened in September at the same court

It was while flying over Oxfordshire at around 2pm that the aircraft came crashing down and a passerby, who happened to be a retired commercial pilot, called 999.

A Thames Valley Air Ambulance crew joined police officers in the hunt for the plane, and 45 minutes later the pair were pronounced dead at the scene.

The 35-year-old married instructor, who was a civil servant, was sitting in the front seat of the plane and the 30-year-old student, who was an aircraft engineer, was in the back when it happened.

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Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter said the investigation into the crash was still ongoing, and until a report has been fully prepared by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) the inquest into their deaths cannot be held.

The AAIB is a government department, which is part of the transport team, that investigates serious incidents and accidents for civil aircrafts.

Usually a report takes a year to prepare, but the report could be done by June.

As a result the inquest has been put on hold until the end of the year.