AN inquiry into the helicopter crash which claimed the life of a police officer from Inverclyde and nine other people has found that the pilot ignored low fuel warnings.

The Fatal Accident Inquiry report into the crash at the Clutha bar in Glasgow city centre in November 2013 was released yesterday and said that Captain David Traill took a chance by ignoring the safety signals.

PC Kirsty Nelis, 36, an award-winning local officer from Inverkip, died in the tragedy along with a fellow officer, seven customers of the pub and Capt Traill.

In his written determination following five months of evidence, Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull said: “Captain Traill consciously took a risk in proceeding on the basis that the low fuel warnings were in some way erroneous (when they were not).

"That decision had fatal consequences.

“The central issue was why Captain Traill allowed the supply tanks to deplete to the point that they did when there was more than sufficient usable fuel available to him in the main tank to allow [the helicopter] to return safely to [base].”

The sheriff said it was clear from the evidence that the accident was caused by Mr Traill’s failure to ensure that at least one of the fuel transfer pump switches was set to 'on'.

The aircraft’s engines flamed out sequentially as a result of fuel starvation while the craft was airborne.

The FAI found that there was enough time between the first and second engine flame-outs for him to have switched on the fuel transfer pumps.

Sheriff Principal Turnbull said he could not offer guidance to prevent further deaths occurring in similar circumstances, because the particular circumstances of this crash were unique.

He added: “Had Captain Traill performed the actions set out in the pilot’s checklist, the accident would not have happened.”

The FAI was held to establish what caused the fatal crash and how the victims died and heard evidence from dozens of witnesses, aviation experts and family members, including a pilot from Gourock who had flown the helicopter in the shift prior to the tragedy.

An Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) report previously published in 2015 found two fuel supply switches were off and the pilot did not follow emergency procedures after a fuel warning in the cockpit.

The Crown Office, Scotland’s prosecution authority, ruled there was not enough evidence to justify criminal proceedings.