FREAK weather and metal fatigue were responsible for a plane crash in Cuba that killed a newlywed Kent couple, an official report into the accident has revealed.

Air accident investigators say a sudden whirlwind caused part of the wing of the 30-year-old aircraft to break away, sending the plane carrying Paul and Lorellei Fuller spinning into a lagoon.

The couple, from Minster, near Sheerness, had tied the knot just three days before the crash and were due to return to England for a big family party.

Their deaths devastated both families, who were looking forward to celebrating their marriage. It was a particular tragedy for Lorellei’s family, including her sons Sam and Ben Ross, who were still coming to terms with the death of their five-year-old sister Sophie through cancer.

The newlyweds were among 13 passengers and three crew members who died in the crash on March 14, 2002. Among the victims were a Doncaster couple who had been witnesses at the Fullers’ wedding.

An inquest was held last Tuesday in Doncaster into the two couples’ deaths. Coronor Stanley Hooper read out a lengthy dossier on the crash by the Cuban authorities ruling out pilot error, engine failure or an explosion as the cause.

FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S SHEERNESS TIMES GUARDIAN