British Airways engineer ‘broke ribs and tore heart’ in Heathrow runway crash

An engineer at Heathrow Airport was found unconscious moments after his van was hit by a truck on the runway and died an hour later, an inquest has heard.

John Coles, 44, had worked for British Airways at Heathrow for 28 years when he was fatally injured during a crash on the morning of February 14, 2018.

His van, operated by BA, was involved in a collision with a pick-up truck operated by Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL).

His inquest, held at West London coroner’s court on Monday, heard Mr Coles complained of chest and shoulder pain but waited more than an hour for a paramedic to arrive.

After around an hour he went into cardiac arrest due to internal bleeding and never woke up. He’d also suffered a torn aorta – the largest artery in the body.

Jurors at the inquest heard a colleague, Bhupinder Sandu, phoned Heathrow’s emergency line moments after the incident, but after questioning from HAL and London Ambulance Service (LAS) lawyers he admitted he was unsure about what he said during the call.

Mr Sandu also said he was unaware of any speed limit for vehicles crossing taxiways at the airport in 2018, saying he was aware of another vehicle travelling at 70mph in the past.

He said he found out about the 20mph speed limit after Mr Coles’s death.

A lawyer for HAL said there was ‘no misunderstanding’, but at the time of the accident Mr Sandu ‘should have known’ about the speed limit.

The HAL lawyer added: ‘When you said earlier there was no speed limit, what you meant was you did not know that there was a speed limit.’

Pathologist Dr Hiam Ali concluded Mr Coles died of multiple injuries, including a torn aorta, due to the damaging effects of splintered ribs broken by the impact of the crash.

She dismissed the view of an LAS advanced paramedic who thought the broken ribs may have been due to chest compressions delivered in his emergency treatment.

Dr Ali also told jurors Mr Coles had only managed to survive for an hour because the rib that ripped apart his aorta had probably become lodged inside it, preventing him bleeding quickly.

Dr Ali said: ‘It is extremely unlikely Mr Coles would have survived the aortic injury.’

Mr Coles’ brother, Mark Coles, and colleague Gary Higgins also gave evidence, sharing their memories with the jury.

Mark said: ‘John was the kind of guy who would say: “Anyone want to go to this concert?” then buy 20 tickets upfront and collect the money later, he was just that kind of guy.’

Mr Higgins said: ‘He had an innocence about him that he carried through life. He grew into a popular and well-loved engineer.

‘At BA you either knew John, or you knew of John. He was generous and good-natured, if you needed it and he had it, it was yours.’

The inquest continues with a conclusion expected later this week.

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