11 Dec, 2020 @ 17:00
1 min read

British pilot and wife killed in horror car crash in Gran Canaria after vehicle plunges 300ft off cliff

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A BRITISH pilot and his wife have been killed in a horror car crash in the Canary Islands.

Richard Addicott, 31 and partner Rita García Bolaños died alongside her father Ivan and sister Marta Bolañon when the car carrying the family plunged 75 metres off a road near Artenara, Gran Canaria. 

It is thought bad weather caused the vehicle to career off the GC-21 highway in Galdar between 9pm and 10pm on Tuesday. 

Emergency services didn’t find the family until the following day when a motorway worker noticed roadside barriers had been damaged and spotted the wrecked car. 

One rescue worker was able to descend to the car to confirm four people had died, but weather conditions and the instability of the vehicle made it difficult to recover the bodies.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated, but local officials suggested bad weather and ‘driver error’ may have contributed. 

It is not yet known who was driving the car at the time of the crash. 

Richard, who worked as a captain for Norwegian Air, lived with Rita in London but the pair often travelled to Gran Canaria to visit Rita’s father Ivan and her grandmother, reports suggest. 

Officials confirmed Richard was a registered foreigner living in Spain and possessed the relevant foreign indetification card. 

Former colleague and cabin crew member Valentina Spada, paid tribute to the pilot calling him an ‘excellent person’. 

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Richard Addicott

Another friend Kye Lopez said Richard a ‘true mentor’ who played a ‘massive role” in inspiring him to enrol in aviation school’. 

“As a cabin crew interested in becoming a pilot, he took to me very well. He motivated me, and taught me more and more every time we flew together,” Kye told the PA news agency.

Now in his first year training to be a pilot, Kye said Richard’s death was ‘truly a massive loss’ and that he was praying for and sending his condolences to his friend’s family.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man following his death in Gran Canaria, and are in contact with the Spanish authorities.”

A spokesman for Norwegian Air said: “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Relief Captain Richard Addicott during this sad time.”

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