An airline pilot told an inquest today how he flew over the wreckage site where a light aircraft flown by his father and brother had crashed during a race.

Michael Willis, 73, of Stanmore, Middlesex, and 42-year-old James Willis, of Hillingdon, north London, were in a four-seater Mooney M20B aircraft when it collided mid-air with a sports aircraft over Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight on September 4, 2010.

The jury inquest at Newport, Isle of Wight, heard how the Mooney M20B rose up and was in collision with a RV-4 before breaking up and spiralling to the ground, crashing in woodland and killing both men.

The RV-4, also carrying two men, suffered damage to its propeller but limped safely back to Bembridge Airport with both its occupants escaping serious injury.

The planes were among 19 aircraft taking part in the Merlin Trophy races, a precursor for the main annual Schneider Trophy, which was subsequently cancelled.

Jonathan Willis, son of Michael and younger brother of James, explained that he was also taking part in the race in his own light aircraft.

The 39-year-old, who used to fly as an airline pilot for the same company as his father, described how towards the end of the race he heard a mayday broadcast.

He said that the plane which had crashed was described as a green-and-white Mooney and he knew that it was his father's.

He said: ''I wanted to see the wreckage for myself as I thought there would be a good chance I wouldn't see it for myself at a later point, just to verify what had happened for myself.

''I flew over and I circled until I saw the wing and I saw the number 10 on the wing.

''I knew that was what it was and I returned to the airport.''

He said that he and his father had gone to air race school together in 2007.

He added that his brother and father had flown together in races about 30 times with James navigating in about 20 of these.

Benjamin Chapman, the pilot of the RV-4 which was involved in the collision with the Mooney, said that the accident happened as the aircraft were on the final stretch of the fifth and final lap of the handicap race which had lasted about 35 minutes.

He said that he and his navigator David Tugwell had seen the Mooney flying below and to the right of their aircraft.

He said that they had not yet begun their descent when the collision happened and they had attempted to keep a track of the Mooney until it had gone out of sight.

He said: ''I was aware we were being overtaken until David said 'I can't see him anymore'.''

He added: ''The first thing I had noted was the sound of my propeller hitting something else.

''What I felt was the bang-bang of the propeller and simultaneously seeing the other aircraft come up on my right-hand side.

''He was no longer facing the direction of travel, the roof of the cabin flashed past us very briefly.

''I also saw a puff of smoke or steam, we started to roll to the right and for a brief moment I felt we had lost control of the aircraft but shortly afterwards I managed to regain control and fly back.''

Mr Chapman was able to land safely and he and Mr Tugwell were not seriously injured in the crash.

Describing the accident, Mr Tugwell said: ''I had been watching the Mooney carefully and on the last leg it was clear he had been gaining on us and was likely to overtake us so I had been regularly reporting his position to Ben.

''He continued to be a little bit faster than us so it was taking a long time to overtake.

''He passed us underneath at which point I lost sight of him under the wing.

''I reported to Ben I could no longer see the Mooney.

''Knowing it was the final leg and would begin our descent I suggested to Ben we do not begin any descent until we re-establish where the Mooney was.

''There was a short period then we felt a big jolt in the aeroplane as clearly the two aircraft collided.

''I couldn't see the other plane we had hit but it was quite clear we had had a mid-air collision.''

Detective Sergeant Gary Lyons, of Hampshire and Isle of Wight police, said that witnesses described the Mooney aircraft rising up and colliding with the RV-4 aircraft which was travelling at 185mph.

He said: ''One (the Mooney) banked 45 degrees with the right wing dipping and rose towards the other plane.

''The left wing of one of the aircraft hit the other aircraft, this plane spiralled to the ground and out of sight.''

Mr Lyons added that there was no evidence of suspicious activity or of a crime having been committed in relation to the accident.

Jane Willis, widow of Michael, said that the father and son had been in good spirits prior to the race.

She said: ''I saw James and he said 'Hello Mum', gave me a kiss and went off to the race, very focused on the race.

''Everyone seemed to be happy and excited about the race.''

She said that she had met her husband at a rugby club dance in Ealing while he worked at Lloyds of London.

She said that he then trained as a commercial pilot before starting work with Dan Air with his last job before retirement being with AB Airlines.

Naeema Willis, the widow of James, said that her husband said goodbye to her and their two children, Nadia, four, and Jackson, three, before heading off to Elstree aerodrome to fly to the Isle of Wight with his parents.

She said: ''I remember him saying goodbye to us, myself and the children, and he said 'See you tomorrow' and left, very happy and looking forward to it.''

She added that her husband, an IT engineer, who she met 16 years ago, had been navigating with his father for about three-and-a-half years.

Mrs Willis said: ''I think he would have liked to fly but he saw his father go off to work very early in the morning and I don't think he fancied the hours.''

The inquest heard that both father and son died of multiple injuries with James suffering a severe head injury.

It was also told that Michael suffered an arm injury consistent with him gripping the flight controls at the time of the impact with the ground.

Toxicology reports showed that neither had consumed alcohol or drugs prior to death.

Proceeding.