The RAF and police, using a helicopter and search and rescue teams, worked through the day and night but their search was hampered by bad weather. It is believed the helicopter stopped somewhere in Devon before heading back to Gloucestershire and crashing in Somerset. The four bodies were found on the aircraft which was intended to be brought back to Staverton at 6.30pm on Saturday after the flight bound for Torbay.

Speaking from her home in Gretton Road, Gotherington, Mr StevensвЂ™ widow today said she was too upset to pay a tribute to her husband at this stage.ДЄ spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said it was unlikely that the victims would be formally identified until tomorrow. Mr Tartaglia said that Mr Stevens, an aviation engineer and close friend of Allan, was an experienced pilot and had made the same flight many times. James was absolutely over the moon that he had been up in a helicopter.вЂќ He said: вЂњI spoke to James when he rang back to Cheltenham, halfway through the flight. He added that James had rung him halfway through the flight to say how much he was enjoying the trip. He said that Mr TartagliaвЂ™s widow, Debbie, was being comforted by family members. вЂњHis son James was only 15, and was just starting to develop into an excellent young man вЂ“ what has happened is truly tragic.вЂќ His children adored him and they were the most important thing in his life. His family was what was important to him and thatвЂ™s what came first every time. What has happened this weekend is devastating and has shattered the lives of many, many people. He said: вЂњWe are an extremely close family. Speaking from his home in Cheltenham, Mr TartagliaвЂ™s brother, Gordon Tartaglia, 54, said Allan, an engineer at Spyrax Sarco in Cheltenham, was a devoted family man. The wreckage was found in the Blackdown Hills near Corfe in Somerset and the bodies of the four victims recovered. The privately-owned Jet Ranger 206B was reported missing on Saturday afternoon after setting off from Gloucestershire Airport in Staverton, Cheltenham, at around 7am. The brother of a man who died with his teenage son and two other passengers in a helicopter crash over the weekend today said the incident had вЂњshatteredвЂќ many lives.ДЄllan Tartaglia, 44, from Churchdown, Gloucestershire, his son James, 15, Roy Stevens, 54, from Gotherington, Gloucestershire, and another man still to be identified, died when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into hills during bad weather. 'Many Lives Shattered' by Fatal Helicopter Crash Headsethair: the pilot could have been night rated and the aircraft suitably equipped for night flight? Agree with SASless, speculation does not help in any way and the true cause of the accident should be established by the experts, not idle speculation, based on half facts. He said he had a problem because he originally tried to land at nearby Exminster, but it was too marshy.' The pilot circled about three times before he landed. Mr Drew said: 'It was queer to see a helicopter by the house. Michael Drew, a resident in Topsham, had earlier taken a photograph of the helicopter after it landed in the village and he spoke to the pilot. Police rescue teams and the Avon and Somerset force's helicopter, assisted by an RAF Sea King helicopter, searched throughout the day and night for the wreckage.Д«ut heavy rain and fog hampered the search and it took 20 hours to find the crashed helicopter. The pilot and his three passengers then spent about three hours in the village before setting off back. But at about 9.30am the pilot landed in a recreation field at Topsham, near Exeter, where he told a resident that he could not reach Torbay because of low cloud.

'The ВЈ800,000 helicopter left Gloucestershire airport at Staverton early on Saturday morning on a day return trip to Torbay in Devon.

Jet ranger of another tomorrow