A pilot and his stuntwoman wife died when their small plane crashed into a mountain side after it was rerouted by French air traffic control, an inquest heard today.
James and Jacqueline Balmer died instantly when cloud obscured their view and they failed to see the "steeply sloping terrain" until the last minute, the inquest heard.
Pilot James, 68, tried an evasive manoeuvre to pull the aircraft into an aggressive steep climb but the twin-engine Piper PA-39 plunged into the rocky side.
Timothy Atkinson, a senior inspector for the air accident department, told an inquest he believed that Mr Balmer had been rerouted into an area he was not familiar with and had not been made aware of the steep terrain he faced.
He told the inquest: "The air traffic controller could have been aware the ground was higher but I cannot be sure whether he was aware of the weather conditions.
"It would be inappropriate to criticise the air traffic controller but in England controllers are required to know the weather where they were controlling.
"He was aware he was flying at 2,000ft and they should have been aware of the high ground in the route they gave.
"The flight path instructed by the controller may have given Mr Balmer the impression his route was safe."
The inquest at Gloucester Coroner's Court heard the couple were on their way back to the UK from a social event in Luca, Italy, when the tragic accident happened on June 17, 2011.
The couple, from Cirencester, set off at 10.10am local time in their four-seater Piper and had followed a pre-determined, detailed flight plan into French airspace.
Half way through the flight however, close to Monacco, Mr Balmer radioed air traffic control to request a route change, something with routinely happened with pilots.
But this was denied and Mr Balmer was instead told to head towards the NIZ navigation beacon, off his original route and on a route he was not familiar with.
"At 11.00 Mr Balmer made contact with Nice, he was flying at 2,000ft and he asked if it was possible to chance his flight plan," Mr Atkinson said.
"The controller told him this was not possible and he was instead told to head towards NIZ.
"At 11.13am the controlled contacted him again to make him aware that he had lost radar contact with the plane, something which was acknowledged by Mr Balmer.
"The last recorded data came at 11.14am which shows the plane climbing rapidly in a zoom climb.
"They were probably rising at a rate of 2,280ft per minute, at the limits of the performance capability for the plane."
Efforts were made to contact the couple following the lost radar transmission, but when no answer was received a search and rescue patrol was dispatched.
The bodies of the couple, who had been married 22 years and had two daughters, Charlotte and Lucy, were discovered four hours later on the dangerous cliff face as rescuers were hampered by low cloud.
Mr Atkinson added: "The plane struck the side of Mont Agel seconds after 11.14am. They struck ground in the climb at high speed."
The inquest was told there were a number of possible reasons the plane had crashed but the weather and Mr Balmer's unfamiliarity with the route contributed.
Evidence was read to the court which said low level clouds had been present around the coast line of France on the day of the crash and would have probably obscured the view of the rapidly rising terrain.
Mr Atkinson said the use of the NIZ beacon may have also confused Mr Balmer as he could have assumed it was located at Nice Airport, or in the surrounding area - over a flat plain - when it was in fact on an elevated position no where near either.
The inquest heard there were no mechanical or electrical defects that would have contributed to the accident.
Recording a verdict of accidental death Assistant Deputy Coroner Katy Skerrett said both couples had died instantly of "overwhelming multiple injuries".
She said: "This experienced pilot was flying from Luca to Troyes and had deviated in accordance with air traffic control.
"That took him into cloudy and high terrain. It is my conclusion he was not expecting that.
"When it became evident he attempted to avoid it and began to climb steeply, but tragically this was not enough to avoid the slope.
"My verdict is accidental death. This was a tragic accident with enormous consequences."
