RELATIVES of a family killed in a helicopter crash near Sevenoaks say they must come to terms with never knowing why their loved-ones died.

A coroner at the inquest into the deaths of Mark and Jean Price and their 14-month-old son Samuel recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing evidence from witnesses and experts who investigated the crash on July 19, 2003.

The family, from Chessington, had hired the helicopter for a pleasure flight from Biggin Hill but crashed to their death in a field in Knockholt just minutes after take-off.

The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) concluded that there was insufficient evidence to point to one cause. There was no on-board flight recording equipment, although "distressed utterances" were picked via the radio at the time of the crash.

At the inquest at Merevale House, Tunbridge Wells, on Wednesday, home-owners nearby recalled a loud, high-pitched helicopter noise and the sight of it veering left, almost hitting a house before nose-diving towards the ground.

Philip Taylor and Stephen Moss from the AAIB, were quizzed by the coroner, Dr Roger Hatch, and Mr Price’s brother Anthony. The family maintained that the evidence about the noise of the helicopter did not tally with the investigation report, which ruled out mechanical failure.

The experts said thorough tests had been carried out on the remains of the wreckage, including with the manufacturers in America. They admitted that the power turbine governor had been found to be slightly "out of tolerance" but said thsi was normal and dismissed suggestions that it might have contributed to the accident.

Mr Moss said: "We can never be 100 per cent sure. We can only give it our best shot. We put a lot of resources into a thorough investigation. We could not come up with any evidence of a mechanical failure."

Dr Hatch said he was satisfied every effort had been made to find a cause and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Speaking after the hearing, Anthony Price thanked the investigators for their efforts, but said: "We would have liked there to have been some definite outcome. There will always be questions for myself and I will never be satisfied.

"Mark was very conscientious and very safety minded, which makes it all the more distressing."