There was a history of numerous problems and failures with this type of aircraft and we believe it should be looked into more robustly

Geraldine McCool, aviation lawyer

Only Lieutenant Colonel Murray Whiteside, 39, survived after managing to steer the smoke-filled craft away from the village.

He was able to guide it into a field only by leaning out of a side window as it hurtled towards the ground.

The families of the dead men said they were "owed" damages for the loss of their loved ones for an accident which was "avoidable."

The Lynx was 50 minutes into a flight from Dishforth airbase, North Yorkshire, to RAF Odiham in Hampshire when disaster struck.

The helicopter was flying from Yorkshire to Hampshire

A hearing in Leicester was told the crash was caused by a catastrophic combination of two separate failures.

Investigators found a bearing in the rotor gearbox had failed, causing a chain reaction of distintegration that shut down one of the two engines.

That alone would not have been enough to force the Lynx down - but an oil-leak from a hydraulic system also sparked a fire.

Lawyers representing the victims' families claimed there had been 26 bearing failures since the Lynx entered service in 1976.

'Not satisfied'

But army experts said they did not agree the helicopters' engines had been "kept alive by a process of continued resuscitation".

The inquest was told recommendations had since been implemented by the Ministry of Defence including replacing components prior to deterioration.

But aviation lawyer Geraldine McCool, speaking after a jury returned a verdict of accidental death, said the dead men's families were not satisfied.

"There was a history of numerous problems and failures with this type of aircraft and we believe it should be looked into more robustly," Ms McCool said.

She said they felt the incident was an accident that could have been prevented and a civil case will now be launched.