THE father of an Army reservist who was killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan has spoken after an inquest into his son’s death.

A coroner highlighted undermanning and unsatisfactory training as contributing factors to the April 2014 crash that claimed the lives of Brecon born Oliver Thomas and four other service personnel.

Oliver’s father Clive Thomas, of Brecon, who attended the week long hearing in Oxford, said: "I had wanted to come away without still having major questions about what happened that day so we can have a little bit of closure on that side of it, though the pain will never go away."

Mr Thomas said while the inquest had given him a better understanding of the events on the day his son had died he said he still hadn’t learned why there had been a delay in informing the family of Oliver’s death.

The helicopter had crashed at 7am UK time but the Ministry of Defence hadn’t began looking for the families until 4.45 that afternoon.

Both Mr Thomas and Oliver’s mum, Joanna of Kington, were away from home at the time and officials eventually contacted Mr Thomas at 11.15pm.

The media had been informed of the crash at 10am UK time and of the regiments involved just before midnight.

Coroner Darren Salter said the Lynx helicopter had crashed after a "loss of situational awareness" during a live fire exercise in which it had been leading another Lynx on a race track pattern.

A misjudgement of height led to an impact with the ridge of a dried up riverbed not seen by the crew until about one second before the aircraft hit the ground.

Mr Salter said the altimeter radar system which warns the crew when they are too close to the ground was set below the authorised 50ft minimum, at 25ft, and did not alarm in time to enable the crew to prevent the aircraft being accidentally being flown into the ground.

In his narrative verdict the coroner said: "The accident was contributed to by under manning and unsatisfactory system of training on the squadron resulting in the potential for cumulative fatigue and skills fade."

He said Oliver, Captain Tom Clarke, from Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan, of the Royal Air Force; Warrant Officer Class 2 Spencer Faulkner and Corporal James Walters, both of the Army Air Corps all died from multiple injuries and effects of fire.

Mr Thomas said: "It shouldn’t have happened and if the warning system on the helicopter was used it wouldn’t have happened."

The father-of-two said he also felt for the family of the pilot who had been unable to defend himself at the inquest.

He said the MOD had also conducted a detailed service board of inquiry which had made 33 recommendations.

The coroner had said it the Lynx had needed to locate the other helicopter, which was by now ahead of it, before descending before the "loss of situational awareness".

Mr Thomas said: "We will never know what distracted them for the last few weeks seconds.

"In all these things you hope enough steps will be taken to ensure it never happens again and another family will not have to be put through what the Thomas family has had to go through."

Oliver, a Lance Corporal in the Intelligence Corps, also worked for then Brecon and Radnorshire MP Roger Williams.

Mr Thomas said Oliver had been anxious to undertake active duty with the reserves and had been selected to go to Afghanistan due to his specialist knowledge.

"He had done his masters at the University of Manchester and his thesis was on the drug trade and its effect on the peace process in Afghanistan. He was the right man for the job.

"He was enjoying it out there and he was hard working. He always enjoyed life and he loved Brecon. He didn’t mind mixing with older people like his father and my mates to go drinking.

"He was probably very soft in nature but by the end of a night most people would know him."

Mr Thomas also has a handwritten letter from Oliver’s line manager, a captain in the Intelligence Corps.

Captain JM Wood praises Oliver as a "first rate analyst and Junior Non-Commissioned Officer" and a "valued member of the team" and a "true gentleman" who would also organise football tournaments at Kandahar Airfield.

Mr Thomas said the family had been supported by the community in Brecon and Kington, where Oliver attended Lady Hawkins School, following his death.

The MOD has said steps have been taken to minimise the risk of such an accident happening again and it will study the coroner’s findings to identify any further lessons that may be learnt.