A retired managing director from Pontypool died after the light aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed into a mountainside in cloud, an inquest was told.

But the pilot of the Cessna 152 which ploughed into a Snowdonia mountainside in September last year still has no recollection of the tragedy.

An inquest in Caernarfon recorded a verdict of accidental death on 73-year-old Stuart Kingsbury, of Talywain.

He had been in the single-engine plane which crashed in September 2006 after having earlier taken off from Caernarfon airport.

Pathologist Dr Susan Andrew told the inquest that Mr Kingsbury had a deep cut on his head which probably made him unconscious after the impact.

But he had also been sick and died when he inhaled vomit. There were fractures to the sternum, right leg and ankle.

Pilot Brian Vaux, 61, of Queen Street, Pontypool, was badly hurt in the crash and gave evidence from a wheelchair.

He was unable to recall what happened when nearly 2,000ft high.

The aircraft had been flying from Caernarfon airport to Shobdon in Herefordshire, following the coast because a direct route was too cloudy.

Mr Vaux said in evidence they took off from Caernarfon for the return journey but turned back due to poor weather.

He then decided to take a more northerly route along the North Wales coast where the weather was reported to be better.

He said: "The last thing I remember was turning over Caernarfon Bay, Mr Kingsbury remarking about Snowdon being on the right and looking down and seeing the water of Caernarfon Bay."

The altitude was 2,300ft at that stage and Mr Vaux said he was navigating.

Mr Vaux remarked : "From my lack of memory, I can't really make any comment."

Christopher Protheroe of the Air Accident Investigation Branch said the aircraft had been flying at normal speed when the crash occurred.

He suspected that rising ground was spotted at the last moment.

Keith Conradi, another investigator, said a fell runner was at 1,700ft when she heard the aircraft then a bang and silence.

She ran to the nearest phone to alert rescue services. The cloud base was about 2,000ft.

Mr Conradi said the pilot "should have navigated around the low cloud."

North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones believed Mr Vaux followed the contours of the ground but went into the edge of cloud.

"Unfortunately he wasn't aware of the change in ground level in that area," the coroner said.

Two helicopters, firefighters and paramedics went to the scene but Mr Kingsbury was already dead. Mr Vaux was flown aboard a helicopter to Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor.