A BUSINESSMAN who grew up in Berkshire died with his family when the seaplane they were in crashed, an inquest heard.

Richard Cousins, a former Brackenhale School student, was in a seaplane over Sydney Harbour with his sons Edward and William, along with his partner Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter, Heather Bowden-Page, on New Year’s Eve when it crashed.

All five are believed to have died as a result of head injuries or drowning and a full investigation is currently being conducted by Australian authorities.

Peter Bedford, senior coroner for Berkshire, suspended his involvement at a preliminary hearing on February 12 at Reading Town Hall.

Canadian pilot Gareth Morgan is believed to have turned into the steep-sided Jerusalem Bay after taking off from nearby Cottage Point, around 25 miles north of the city centre.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and New South Wales coroner will handle the investigation before the Berkshire Coroner’s Office makes a decision on whether or not to hold a full inquest.

Mr Cousins, 58, lived in Tooting with his fiancee and her young daughter and he was the chief executive of Compass Group.

Edward, 23, and William, 25, both lived in Hide Heath, Buckinghamshire.

Mr Bedford said: “I don’t think anybody could have failed to hear about the tragic incident involving a sea plane at the harbour in Sydney on New Year’s Eve.

“I propose to suspend my investigation under the Criminal Justice Act 2009. This allows me the power to suspend my investigation if another investigation into the deaths is being conducted.

“The New South Wales coroner is leading an ongoing investigation and she has access to the investigation by local authorities and that will involve an air crash investigator by a team of specialists.

“It will then fall to my office to consider whether or not a full inquest should take place here in Berkshire, using the outcome of the investigation from Australia.”

Mr Cousins is believed to have died of multiple blunt force injuries, while his fiancee and her daughter died due a combination of head injuries and drowning.

Edward Cousins is thought to have drowned, while his brother William suffered multiple head and facial injuries.

Investigators have said the 44-year-old pilot was “very familiar with the area” and would have known he would have been too low to clear the terrain when he entered the bay minutes after taking off at around 3pm.

Aaron Shaw, chief executive of operator Sydney Seaplanes, said the aircraft “simply should not have been where it was”.

“It is not a route we authorise in our landing and take-off area register and the plane simply should not have been where it was,” he said.

“Further, the aircraft is then reported to have entered in to an 80 to 90-degree bank angle turn.

“A turn of this nature at low altitude by a pilot with Gareth’s skills, experience and intimate knowledge of the location is totally inexplicable.”

The full inquest is not expected until after the ATSB has completed its full investigation, in around 12 months.

A seaplane that plunged into a bay near Sydney killing a Bucks businessman and his family after diverting from its authorised route was making a “totally inexplicable” turn, the aircraft’s operator said.

Gareth Morgan, who had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience, is thought to have turned into steep-sided Jerusalem Bay after taking off from nearby Cottage Point, around 25 miles north of the city centre, on New Year’s Eve.

The Canadian pilot and his five passengers - Richard Cousins, his two sons, his fiancée Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter, all died when the aircraft took a sharp right-hand turn and nose-dived into the water.

Mr Cousins was the chief executive of a FTSE 100 catering giant, Compass Group, and had a home in Hyde Heath, near Amersham.

READ MORE HERE: Tributes pour in for Bucks businessman and his family killed in New Years Eve seaplane crash

Investigators have said the 44-year-old pilot was “very familiar with the area” and would have known he would have been too low to clear the terrain when he entered the bay minutes after taking off at around 3pm.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has said it is now trying to piece together what happened in the cockpit, and one of its lines of inquiry will be if Mr Morgan was incapacitated.

The seaplane did not have a cockpit voice or flight data recorder, although it was not required to have one by law.

There are hopes that electronic devices including mobiles phones recovered from the scene that are being analysed by police may shed light on events on board prior to the crash.

Speaking as investigators released their preliminary report, Aaron Shaw, chief executive of operator Sydney Seaplanes, said the aircraft “simply should not have been where it was”.

“It is not a route we authorise in our landing and take-off area register and the plane simply should not have been where it was,” he said.

“Further, the aircraft is then reported to have entered in to an 80 to 90-degree bank angle turn.

“A turn of this nature at low altitude by a pilot with Gareth’s skills, experience and intimate knowledge of the location is totally inexplicable.”

The pilot, who had flown seaplanes around the world including the High Arctic and Maldives, was said to have a “high standard of health”.

Nat Nagy, executive director of transport safety at the ATSB, said they had “no information at all” to suspect that the crash had been deliberate and the ATSB had received no information to suggest concern about Mr Morgan’s mental health.

Investigators are also considering if any of his passengers may have suffered any medical episode that could have contributed to the crash.

The results of post mortem examinations and toxicology tests will be provided to the New South Wales coroner by the state’s police.

It emerged in the wake of the tragedy that the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver had been rebuilt after it was involved in a fatal accident in the 1990s, when it was used as a crop duster.

Mr Nagy said investigators were aware of the crash, although the aircraft had been operating “without any issues” since it was recertified in 2000 and the incident was not presently of concern.

The bodies of Mr Cousins, 58, his sons, Will and Edward, aged 25 and 23, Ms Bowden, 48, and her daughter were recovered from the water on the day of the tragedy.

Friends and colleagues said Mr Cousins was a “well-known and respected” businessman who helped transform Compass’s fortunes upon becoming the catering firm’s boss in 2006.

An inquest into the deaths is not expected until after the ATSB publishes its final report in about 12 months.