Flight Lieutenant Andrew Townshend pictured outside of Bulford Military Court
An RAF pilot has been cleared at court martial of lying to investigators after the military passenger jet he was flying went into a nosedive after his digital camera jammed the controls.
Flight Lieutenant Andrew Townshend had been accused of lying in both a technical log and service inquiry when he initially claimed the incident had been caused by a technical fault.
A board of RAF officers found the 49-year-old not guilty of two counts of perjury and one of making a false record at the court martial trial at Bulford, Wiltshire.
But Townshend had pleaded guilty to negligently performing a duty in relation to the Nikon D5300 DSLR camera colliding with the aircraft's control stick.
The court martial heard that the incident took place over the Black Sea during a flight from RAF Brize Norton to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2014.
The trial heard that many of the crew and passengers thought they were going to die when the Voyager aircraft plummeted 4,400ft in a matter of seconds.
The defendant, who has served with the RAF for 30 years and completed 5,500 flying hours, had been using his camera to take photographs of other aircraft from the cockpit and had taken 95 shots that day.
He also told the court that he had been viewing the star-filled sky moments before the incident as he had a passion for star-gazing.
Crew and passengers thought they were going to die when the Voyager aircraft plummeted 4,400ft in a matter of seconds - after the camera jammed the controls (pictured)
Flt Lt Nathan Jones (pictured) was able to wrestle back control of the nose-diving plane after crawling back to the cockpit on the aircraft's roof with a fractured back
A board of RAF officers found the 49-year-old not guilty of two counts of perjury and one of making a false record at the court martial trial at Bulford, Wiltshire
Townshend said that after the flight, he filled in his flight log stating that he believed at the time there had been an issue with the autopilot but he now accepted that his camera must have deactivated the autopilot.
Service personnel on board the flight were immediately flung out of their seats and 'pinned to the ceiling' and feared for their lives during the descent.
Remarkably, co-pilot Flight Lieutenant Nathan Jones, 34, was able to wrestle back control of the nose-diving plane after crawling back to the cockpit on the aircraft's roof with a fractured back.
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ShareGiving evidence, Flt Lt Townshend said when he was told his camera caused the dive it was 'the worst day of his life'.
He added: 'I remember seeing an awful lot of ground in front of me which you don't see in planes and remember thinking 's**t, this is so bad'.
'I thought 'this is game over, I'm going to die in this seat'.
'It was a wholly sickening moment. I've had a few moments while climbing which were terrifying but they only lasted a split second and were nothing compared to this.
'This was the most hideous and gut-wrenching experience and I thought it was the end of me.'
Flt Lt Townshend's camera jammed between his chair's armrest and the side-stick control unit, which works like a joystick. After Flt Lt Jones levelled the plane, they diverted to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
RAF PILOT WHO COMPETED IN PRINCE HARRY'S INVICTUS GAMES HEROICALLY SAVED PLANE
Flt Lt Jones, 34, pictured with Prince Harry at the 2016 Invictus Games
Flight Lieutenant Nathan Jones, 34, left the cockpit of the Voyager aircraft to make a cup of tea when the plane was sent into a 4,400 feet nosedive in 29 seconds.
He was left with a fractured back, a prolapsed disc and nerve damage after the 2014 incident.
The co-pilot was pinned to the ceiling by the sudden dive and had to be extremely careful as he pulled back the controls for fear of 'snapping the wings off', the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, heard.
He will captain Great Britain at this year's Invictus Games in Canada - an event created by Prince Harry which sees injured servicemen and women from 17 allied nations compete against each other in a range of adaptive sports.
In the 2016 games, he won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke race.
Amazingly, he recovered the aircraft from the dive by pulling back on the side stick - but did it gently as he was 'aware that if I pulled back hard it would most likely snap the wings off'.
He is still getting treatment today after undergoing surgery and other lengthy procedures, and has been medically downgraded since the incident.
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Service personnel on board the jet (pictured) were immediately flung out of their seats and 'pinned to the ceiling' and feared for their lives during the descent
The RAF board was shown this photo, taken by the pilot before his plane went into a nosedive. It shows the cockpit of the Voyager aircraft on February 9, 2014
The plane ultimately diverted to the nearest airfield at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, so casualties could be treated and the cause of the dive could be diagnosed.
Flt Lt Townshend will be sentenced on Friday for negligently performing a duty.
An MoD spokeswoman said: 'Our thoughts go out to all those on board the Voyager who were affected by what was a highly distressing experience.
'The MoD is grateful for the court's thorough consideration of the facts in this matter, lessons have been identified from this incident and training and procedures amended accordingly.'
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