RAF gunner Corrie McKeague was crushed to death after climbing into an industrial bin, an inquest has found.
Mr McKeague, from Dunfermline, Fife, was 23 when he disappeared in the early hours of September 24, 2016 after a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
The jury at Ipswich coroners court said the airman’s judgment had been impaired by drinking but the bin had ineffective locks and wasn’t searched properly before being uplifted and taken to landfill.
The inquest into his death began on March 7 and concluded on Tuesday, March 22.
Police had believed the serviceman, who was stationed at RAF Honington, climbed into a bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry.
He was reported missing at 3.42pm on September 26 by colleagues at the airbase but no trace of him has ever been found.
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