AN “unflappable” pilot died when his plane crashed into an Italian mountain, a Reading inquest heard this week.

Alan Tyson, an experienced pilot from Wargrave, died when his Beechcraft Baron B58 light aircraft hit the side of Mount Mindino, 45 miles from Albenga, at around 11.45am local time on Sunday, June 16.

But the accomplished pilot’s friends and family challenged the investigation by Italian police, who claimed despite heavy fog the 52-year-old was not using any of his on-board instruments.

Nigel Meek, who co-owned the plane and flew with Mr Tyson for 20 years, told an inquest on Tuesday it was unthinkable his friend was ignoring his instruments, but admitted no one will ever know why he flew into the cloud bank.

He added: “What is very difficult to explain is how he found himself at that altitude in those conditions.

“Clouds and mountains don’t mix when it comes to light aviation.

“It was the error of judgement or whatever caused him not to appreciate he should have been a lot higher.”

Mr Tyson, who lived in Ridgeway and was a director of the Belgravia-based Bonanza Flying Club, was on a short holiday and was scheduled to leave Albenga in the Italian Riviera at 11.30am local time yo fly to Troyes-Barberey Airport near Paris, but thick fog delayed his take-off by four minutes.

His last radio transmission cut out at 11.49am and police believe because visibility was less than 30m (98ft), Mr Tyson did not see the mountain until it was too late, hitting its eastern face at an altitude around 1,765m (5,790ft) at a speed of 150 knots (80m/s).

Police were alerted to the crash at around midday and found Mr Tyson’s body in the wreckage, identifying him by his passport and pilot’s licence.

Recording an accidental death verdict, Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford paid tribute to the pilot, who was described as “very intelligent, thoughtful, sturdy and unflappable” by his friends.

He said: “Alan was in good health and positive mind, there is always the brief spectre that someone could fly deliberately into a mountain, but I dismiss this out of hand.

“The circumstances of Alan’s tragic death is an accident.”