Flight Lieutenant David Williams' body is brought home

Flight Lieutenant David Rhys Williams, 37, and Flight Lieutenant Kevin Barry Main, 35, served with 9 Squadron, RAF Marham in Norfolk.

The navigator and pilot were killed when their GR4 Tornado was shot down by an American Patriot missile.

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner heard how their plane crashed on 22 March, 16 miles from their base at Ali Al Salem in Kuwait.

The flag-draped coffin is carried to a waiting hearse

Mr Gardiner said he was adjourning the inquests for the next 10 weeks.

He hoped to release all the bodies to the servicemen's families within the next fortnight.

Their bodies were flown back to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Saturday with eight other servicemen.

They were the first British casualties of the war in Iraq.

Flight Lieutenant Main, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was married with two children and had been due for promotion in July.