Helicopter 'Rebuilt' Before Crash

A helicopter involved in a fatal crash after its rotor blades "broke off" had been rebuilt three months before the tragedy, an inquiry has heard.

The Bell Jet Ranger crashed into a field near Coupar Angus, Perthshire, in December 2005.

Pilot Captain Philip Ward, from Glasgow, was killed with passenger Eddie Lapsley, from Gateshead.

The pair had set out from Cumbernauld to inspect a major gas pipeline to Aberdeen at the time of the crash.

A fatal accident inquiry at Perth Sheriff Court heard that the helicopter had been stripped down three months before the crash.