An grandmother suffered a ‘sudden and violent’ death after being blown over as a Coastguard helicopter landed at a hospital, an inquest heard.
Retired civil servant Jean Langan, 87, was fatally injured when she was floored by the powerful downwash of a search and rescue helicopter as it landed at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth, on March 4, 2022.
The pensioner suffered an unsurvivable head injury when she was toppled over due to the high winds whipped up by the helicopter, as she walked to the car after having a hearing aid fitted.
Despite being treated by doctors and paramedics, the mother-of-one died around three hours later. A jury concluded her death was an accident at an inquest in Exeter County Court this week.
Today, her grieving family paid tribute and said they hoped such a ‘terrible’ incident will never happen again to anyone.
It comes after an Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) inquiry found a number of ‘systemic safety issues’ not just at the Derriford Hospital helipad but with helipads across the country.
The AAIB highlighted a series of failings which exposed members of the public to risk and led to Mrs Langan’s death, with the body making a number of recommendations to improve safety.
It found members of the public were not prevented from being close to the hospital’s helipad when choppers were landing.
Jean Langan, a retired civil servant, died after being floored by the powerful downwash of the search and rescue helicopter as it landed at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth, on March 4, 2022
Pictured is CCTV footage showing the helicopter as it comes into land, which caused 87-year-old Jean to fall
In a part of the inquest relating to the prevention of future deaths, Senior Coroner Ian Arrow was told the car park has now been permanently closed to the public.
As a consequence of the tragedy, Derriford Hospital said larger helicopters like those used by the Coastguard would never be allowed to land at the helipad again.
Instead, they would need to touch down at Bickleigh Barracks, with any patients then transported by ambulance to the A&E department.
During the hearing, a heartbreaking statement written by Mrs Langan’s family was read to the court, explaining her ‘sudden and violent death has been huge’.
They said she would have ‘hated’ the publicity surrounding her passing and felt she had ‘lost the quiet dignity that she would have chosen’.
The inquest heard how she was ‘very proud of her son and his family and doted on her three grandchildren’, adding that her son had found it ‘too distressing to participate in the inquest proceedings’.
The family stated they accepted Mrs Langan was elderly and knew ‘that one day we would lose her’. They added: ‘However, the manner of her death has affected us immensely. Jean was doing nothing wrong.’
Images of CCTV footage taken from the hospital car park on the day of the incident were released to the media following the conclusion of the inquest.
In the clip. the grandmother and Gael could be seen walking along the length wall of the helipad, before Mrs Langan is seen to stumble and fall as a helicopter comes into land.
The footage also shows paramedics waiting by ambulances in the car park, as well as members of the public, rushing to Mrs Langan’s aid following her fall.
Moments before the helicopter landed, Jean could be seen walking in the car park with her niece
She fell to the ground following the powerful downdraft of the helicopter coming into land, blew her over. Pictured is the helicopter on the landing pad after the incident
An image released from the inquest showed the route the helicopter took, the parking spot Jean and her niece were walking to (marked as “1”) and the point Jean fell (marked as “2”)
A Home Office forensic pathologist told the inquest Jean’s head injuries were substantial and she was given palliative care before she died three-and-a-half hours after the incident.
Following the conclusion of the inquest, Jean’s family released a further statement expressing their hope that action would now be taken.
They said: ‘Jean’s death was a devastating, tragic event which should never have happened.
‘Jean had every right to expect to be able to walk safely on a public footpath within the hospital grounds.
‘The loss and distress that the family suffers is immeasurable. Jean was the matriarch of the family and is still very much loved and missed every day.’
They said they were ‘disappointed’ witness statements about what happened to Mrs Langan could not be read during the inquest.
They added: ‘Through the investigation process we have been made aware that there were multiple failings across a range of agencies which lead to this fatal incident.
‘The family trust that these proceedings, along with the actions which have been proposed and those that are being taken by all agencies involved, will, as a result, mean that this terrible situation can never happen again to anybody else.’