Cameraman killed in paramotor crash had been left 'shaken' by earlier landing

Press and Journal

08-05-2025

A cameraman killed in the Highlands while on a charity air expedition around the coast of Britain had been left 'shaken' by a landing earlier that day, a fatal accident inquiry has been told.
Dan Burton had been flying a paramotor to document conservationist Sacha Dench's round-Britain flight and world record attempt in the lead up to the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
But when the pair failed to reach a landing point, their ground crew discovered the fatal crash scene – near Loch Na Gainmhich in Sutherland- with emergency services in attendance.
The first day of evidence in the fatal accident inquiry, before Sheriff Neil Wilson at Tain Sheriff Court, heard from Charlotte Harrison-Littlefield, one of the expedition crew.
She said the project was aimed at promoting the work of Conservation Without Borders – a charity co-founded by Ms Dench.
Under questioning from fiscal depute Jemma Eadie, Ms Harrison-Littlefield told the court that on the day of the fatal crash, September 18 2021, she and a second ground crew member dropped Ms Dench and Mr Burton at their take-off site.
They then travelled on to a potential landing spot at Scourie, between Ullapool and Durness, described in court as a 'checkpoint'.
In a statement to police following the accident, she said: 'Sacha and Dan just flew past us and waved, so the next meeting place was Ullapool.'
The two-person ground crew continued to that location, but became concerned when the two paramotors did not appear and their pilots did not make contact.
She explained that it was normal practice for the crew to use the Life 360 app to track each other, as well as communicating by text, WhatsApp and calls.
She said: 'We waited for us to hear from Sacha and Dan. When we were driving, we were driving it more directly, so it was common that we might arrive in a place that we thought they would land before they did.
'We waited a while and did not hear from them – we attempted to contact both themselves and some of the home crew of the expedition.
'I believe their answer was that they had not heard from Sacha Dench and Dan Burton since we had last seen them pass over the original checkpoint.'
Ms Harrison-Littlefield said she and her crewmate had checked Life360 but the location had not been updated 'for a while'.
Realising the pilots 'should have reached their location', the ground crew decided to drive back along the route to see if they could spot them.
'We drove that route and eventually came across the site of the accident,' she said.
The court heard that the pair were on the A894 when they spotted 'the flashing lights of emergency vehicles'.
They were stopped from accessing the site by emergency service workers, who subsequently requested next of kin details for the pilots.
She said: 'We were advised that one of the flyers had passed away, then after a period of time, we were informed that it was Dan Burton.'
The inquiry was told that an electric motor used to power Ms Dench's flights had been swapped out for a petrol version in the days before the incident, following an issue.
Under questioning for Peter Anderson, on behalf of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, Ms Harrison-Littlefield revealed that Mr Burton had been left 'shaken' following a landing from an earlier flight that day.
She said: 'I remember that the landing for the morning flight was not ideal. Sacha and Dan had to land in separate locations -I think that was because of the weather.
'I remember Dan was quite shaken when I collected him'
The court had heard evidence from Ms Harrison-Littlefield that members of the team, including Mr Burton, had raised concerns about the stressful nature of the expedition.
She said: 'I do know that there were several occasions where Dan Burton expressed to myself and other members of the team, the frustration with the working environment and the general progress of the expedition.
'The expedition was clearly behind in terms of where we should have been geographically compared to the original plan.'
She said it was 'quite a stressful working environment, we were asked to get a lot done and didn't have the time to achieve what was wanted and conversations about 'realistic aims' were not always heard.'
At one point, Ms Harrison-Littlefield told the court, there was a 'big conversation' involving every member of the expedition crew that 'got quite heated' but that there was no 'hard outcome' as a result.
She described the expedition as being 24/7 with 'little time for downtime'.
She told the court that stress had come both from the demands of living and working alongside people they did not know, as well as in a 'work-related' form from Sacha Dench, who was 'the boss'.
Asked whether Ms Dench deferred to Mr Burton for flying decisions, she said: 'I think that she would normally discuss it with him, but that the decision would normally be her.
She added: 'I don't know what discussions took place on the day of the accident.'
But Conservation Without Borders Trustee Stephen Holland – who had also signed off on a risk assessment for the project – contradicted this in his evidence, telling the court: 'In terms of flying, Dan was the lead.
'Dan very much called the shots – go or not go.'
The inquiry – before Sheriff Neil Wilson – continues.