Posted on 06/20/2002 9:23:31 PM PDT by Orual
A YOUNG pilot described yesterday the last moments of a decorated SAS veteran who deliberately leapt 5,000 feet to his death from a light aircraft.
The inquest in Oxford heard that Charles Bruce, 45, a veteran of the conflicts in the Falklands and of Northern Ireland, committed suicide by jumping without a parachute from the plane as it flew over Oxfordshire last January.
Mr Bruce, who joined the Parachute Regiment aged 17, and who had been a qualified skydiver, leaped from the Cessna 172 Skyhawk leaving his friend and business partner, Judith Haig, 29, to land the plane alone at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Miss Haig, of Cobham, Kent, told the inquest the tragedy occurred during a flight from Spain, where Mr Bruce had a home, to Northamptonshire, as they attempted to land prematurely due to icing on the wings.
Miss Haig said: "He [Mr Bruce] was keen to get home and to get back to England. He was quieter than normal. He didn’t seem particularly unwell, he just wanted to get home."
Miss Haig, who was flying the plane as her partner sat beside her in the front seat, said: "As I was getting to Brize, I noticed he began to slide his feet back. He turned around, said a few words to me, and I asked him to help me fly the aircraft.
"He said I was doing fine - he had obviously thought it through. It all happened so fast. I heard him unbuckle his seatbelt - it’s a very distinctive clink - he tried to conceal it from me.
"He turned to get out," Mis Haig went on. "I grabbed hold of him, trying to hold on with one hand to control the aircraft, and one hand on him. There was quite a lot of movement in the cockpit."
Miss Haig told the inquest that the SAS veteran then leaped out of the door.
Mr Bruce, who lived in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and who had a home on the Costa Brava, had a history of mental illness and had been prescribed lithium to control his depression.
Following his army career, Mr Bruce worked as a security adviser and bodyguard for celebrities, including the comedian Jim Davidson.
But his experiences in the special forces came back to haunt him and he suffered prolonged bouts of depression and mental illness.
In his autobiography, Freefall, Mr Bruce described how he once tried to stab his first wife and that he often thought of killing himself.
The Oxford coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, recorded a verdict of suicide
Yes, sadly prophetic.
I'd bet that's exactly what happened.
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