Paraplegic fundraiser Claire Lomas died after sustaining injuries in a crash while filming a series for Apple's VR headset in Jordan, an inquest heard. The 44-year-old became paralysed from the chest down after a horse-riding accident at Osberton Horse Trials in Nottinghamshire in 2007. She died on July 15 last year while filming for an Apple series relating to its Vision Pro headset.
Crash details revealed
The inquest at County Hall in Glenfield, Leicestershire, heard Ms Lomas was operating a microlight when the aircraft "veered off the runway" and struck a large rock. She died of multiple severe traumatic injuries at King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman, Jordan, more than five weeks later.
Lina Zilinskaite, a senior producer for Atlantic Productions, told the inquest the company was commissioned by Apple to create a series for its Vision Pro headset. She told senior coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire, Louise Pinder: "Each episode follows a different athlete performing some sort of challenge or feat. (It was) always controlled risk. Individuals were doing this as a big hobby or profession in some instances. We are not plucking people off the street to do it."
Claire's experience and enthusiasm
Ms Zilinskaite said Ms Lomas was "delighted" to be selected, adding: "Claire had some experience with media. We sort of felt reassured she knew how the media and the process worked. She was very enthusiastic and keen and excited about the opportunity."
The inquest heard Ms Lomas, from Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, got a licence to fly a microlight a few years before. The production company knew she needed help getting in and out of the specially adapted aircraft because she was paraplegic. Ms Zilinskaite said there were concerns Ms Lomas was nervous about flying the aircraft in Jordan, but the witness said: "She was absolutely sure she wanted to fly."
Fatal flight and aftermath
The coroner said a report shows the wind strength was "light and from the left which is considered normal" on the day of the crash, and it would have been preferable to have a smaller camera on the microlight, but it did not exceed the weight limit for take-off. The flight was cancelled the day before because of strong winds. Ms Zilinskaite said there were test flights with the camera mounted on the microlight in the UK, and Ms Lomas had flown without the camera mounted in Jordan before the fatal crash.
On the day of the crash, she flew in the air for about 15 minutes before attempting to land. Miss Pinder said Ms Lomas "hit a large rock" during landing and was taken by a standby ambulance to hospital in a critical condition. Ms Zilinskaite said she raised her phone to film Ms Lomas's landing but instinctively did not press record because "the approach was not quite straight on". The witness added: "She veered off the runway then I just heard this noise."
Ms Zilinskaite became emotional and said: "One thing about Claire I learned, she was incredibly stubborn. When she set her mind to do something, she would absolutely do it. She was incredibly strong-willed."
Ms Lomas, who was a mother, was "excited" to come home with her family after spending weeks in hospital but then acquired an infection and deteriorated quickly. She died on August 22. The former chiropractor completed the London Marathon in 17 days in 2012 using a "bionic" suit, raising thousands of pounds for the Spinal Research charity. She was also a motivational speaker, a qualified pilot and was made an MBE in 2017.
The hearing was not attended by Ms Lomas's family members because it was "too painful" being so close to the anniversary of her death, her relatives' representative Ben Bradley KC said. The coroner said her relatives are concerned about the care she received at the hospital in Jordan, but it is not within her jurisdiction to investigate that formally. The inquest continues.
