Cameraman killed in mid-air crash had raised concerns about stress, inquiry told

A cameraman who died following a mid-air paramotor crash with climate activist Sacha Dench while filming an attempt to beat a Guinness World Record had raised concerns about stress before the collision, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Dan Burton, 54, died after his paramotor was involved in a collision with one flown by colleague Ms Dench in the Highlands on September 18, 2021.

Ms Dench, an Australian biologist known as the “human swan” for using a paramotor to follow swans migrating from Russia to the UK, was attempting to travel 3,000 miles around Britain by paramotor to highlight climate change ahead of the Cop26 conference.

She survived but suffered serious injuries in the crash, which occurred near Loch Na Gainmhich in Sutherland, Caithness.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) at Tain Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that concerns had been raised about stress by those involved in the expedition, including Mr Burton, due to a “24/7” workplace culture, and that the potential for a collision between pilots had been highlighted on a risk assessment form.

Giving evidence, Charlotte Harrison-Littlefield, formerly social media manager for Conservation Without Borders, a charity founded by Ms Dench, told how she had been involved as a volunteer but was paid as it exceeded the planned timescale, and said she was “concerned” about stress.

She described the expedition as “travelling around the coast of UK, a part of it was trying to break a world record”, and said it also involved interviews and “content” for Cop26″, the inquiry heard.

She said on the day of the accident, the only two people left on the expedition apart from Ms Dench and Mr Burton were herself and another woman who acted as “ground crew”, and the pilots had flown past the agreed meeting point and waved as they passed, the inquiry heard.

Ms Harrison-Littlefield gave a statement to police saying that one of the electric paramotors was out of use the day of the accident, and so a petrol paramotor was used instead.

The statement said: “Today she tried mixing 20% butanol with 80% petrol and did the first flight with no issues which was around 1.10mins… on the second flight, which was just outside Dorness where the accident occurred, she flew past Dorness past Scourie where we were supposed to meet.”

She said the ground crew drove to Ullapool and attempted to contact the pilots but found that a tracking app “hadn’t updated in a while”, and decided to drive the route where they had last been seen, but came across emergency services, the inquiry heard.

Ms Harrison-Littlefield said: “We were advised that one of the flyers had passed away, after a period of time we were advised it was Dan Burton.”

She said there had been a “kind of away day” but “no formal training had been provided”, and she had a pre-existing St John Ambulance qualification in first aid.

When asked by fiscal depute Jemma Eadie if one of her roles was to be a first aider, Ms Harrison-Littlefield said: “Not in any official capacity.”

Ms Eadie said: “Does it come as a surprise to you that your name has been put down as first aider on risk assessment?”

Ms Harrison-Littlefield said: “Yes, to my knowledge I don’t remember it being an official part of my capacity on the expedition.”

Giving evidence, she said Mr Burton had raised concerns about stress, and there had been a “heated” conversation between workers, volunteers, and the two pilots, but Ms Dench was “the boss in this scenario” and “there was no hard outcome”, the inquiry heard.

She said that “whilst on expedition we were essentially volunteering 24/7… it was seven days a week”, and that she was “concerned” about stress, with the group typically camping with people they interviewed, the inquiry heard.

Ms Harrison-Littlefield said: “There were several occasions where Dan Burton expressed to me and others about frustrations with the working environment and general progress of expedition.

“The expedition was chronically behind in terms of where we should be geographically and how many people we interviewed. The time the expedition was due to take – six weeks – was extended to be a lot more.

“It was quite a stressful working environment, we were asked to get a lot done and didn’t have time. Conversations about realistic ends were not always heard.

“There was at one point a big conversation about well-being, stress, and aims that I remember got quite heated, that I remember involved every member of expedition crew.

“I believe the outcome was just a general decision for us to try harder not to stress each other out, I don’t believe there was a hard outcome.”

She added: “Work-related stress came from Sacha Dench as she was essentially the boss in this scenario.”

The inquiry continues in front of Sheriff Neil Wilson.