Practice — Evidence — Expert evidence

Queen’s Bench Division, Leggatt J, 25 May 2013

The High Court has reviewed the issue of admissibility of expert reports, in the context of a report by Air Accident Investigation Board of the Department for Transport (AAIB) which the claimant sought to adduce in evidence in a civil action against the defendant which alleged that the defendant pilot’s negligence caused the death of a passenger, of whom the claimants were the executors of the estate and the dependants.

John Kimbell (instructed by Stewarts Law LLP) for the claimants. Timothy Marland (instructed by Clyde & Co) for the defendant.

In May 2011, a Tiger Moth aircraft piloted by the defendant crashed, killing its passenger. The claimants were the executors of the estate and the dependants of the deceased. They issued proceedings seeking compensation for his death. They alleged that the accident had been caused by the defendant’s negligence. The defendant’s case was that the accident had