A wife and mother whose husband and son were killed as they prepared for an air race in Menorca has spoken of her shock at the air accident.

Brenda Hilvert lost her husband 63-year-old Bruce Cook and their 26-year-old son Ian in the crash, which happened as they prepared for an air race organised by two branches of the Royal Aero Club at the island's San Luis aerodrome on Saturday (30/05/10).

Yahoo! News reports that Mr Cook left his home in Worcester on Friday to compete in the air race. He had just taken off with his son and was piloting his own plane – a Beech Baron 55 in RAF colours – when the plane nosedived to the ground and exploded on impact. Both men were killed instantly.

His wife said that the news of the deaths of her husband and son was ‘too much to take in’.

Mr Cook and his son worked together in the family garage at the village of Lapworth in the West Midlands. He was a member of the AWA Flying Group in Coventry and participated in the air race every year. He was due to return home to his wife on Wednesday. His son, Ian, lived in Kenilworth in Warwickshire and had a girlfriend.

Mr Cook’s business associate Stephen Esslemont, 44, from Solihull, said that Mr Cook was a competent pilot.

‘From what I heard, it took off, nosedived and crashed 100 metres past the end of the runway and the plane exploded,’ said Mr Esslemont.

He also revealed that Mr Cook had bought the plane from a pilot who had subsequently died in an accident in his new plane.

A spokesman for the Spanish government said that post-mortem examinations were being carried out, but added that an investigation into the crash could take ‘two or three months’.

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