A PREES Man who owned one of the UK's biggest chicken farms, died after his light aircraft collided with terrain in Canada, an investigation has found.

Alan Simpson, 72, was the co-pilot in a Piper PA-46-350P light aircraft when the crash happened on May 1 2019.

The report, published by the Canadian Transport Board, heard how Mr Simpson, along with the pilot of the plane, had been flying from Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland, to Narsarsuaq Airport in Greenland when the crash occurred.

In preparation for the flight, a weather package was provided to the pilots, which indicated significant headwinds and rough air along the intended route.

The pilot was familiar with the route and the intent was to depart on a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight plan, to manoeuvre around weather and terrain while remaining clear of clouds, and then to climb to a higher altitude midway through the flight, where the winds were forecasted to be more favourable.

The investigation found that during the flight, the aircraft climbed to 2,000 feet above sea level (ASL) and proceeded on a direct track to its destination.

The altitude and heading did not change significantly along the route; therefore it is likely that the autopilot was engaged.

During the flight, it was found that an atmospheric optical phenomenon of snow-covered regions in which the observer appears to be engulfed in a uniformly white glow known as a 'whiteout' occurred.

A whiteout happens over an unbroken snow cover and beneath a uniformly overcast sky when, with the aid of the snowblink effect, the light from the sky is about equal to that from the snow surface.

At 8.16 am, the aircraft collided with a snow-covered hill 2,250 feet in elevation, located 35 nautical miles (NM) southeast of Makkovik Airport in Newfoundland.

The impact happened approximately 200 feet below the top of the hill, with the aircraft coming to rest in deep snow on steep sloping terrain.

The aircraft sustained significant damage to the propeller, nose gear, both wings, and fuselage and although the cabin was crush-damaged, occupiable space remained.

Additionally, there was no post-impact fire, but Mr Simpson was fatally injured.

The report also found that the pilot knew the hill existed and had planned to fly around it or over the top if visual reference was lost.

However, that plan was not executed and impact occurred without warning.