AN inquest to establish how a former SAS veteran plunged to his death from a light aircraft over Oxfordshire has been opened in Oxford.

Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said he was satisfied that the body of a man who fell from a Cessna 172 aircraft on Tuesday, January 8 was that of 45-year-old Charles Christian Cameron Bruce, who lived in the Costa Brava, Spain.

DC Alan Hillsdon, from Witney CID, said Mr Bruce's body was taken to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital where he identified Mr Bruce from a passport in his jacket pocket.

The court heard the pilot of the plane radioed a May Day call to report that Mr Bruce had fallen from the aircraft.

Police mounted a search and found his body in a sports field near the High Street in Fifield, near Chipping Norton.

Mr Bruce was certified dead at the scene at 5.35pm.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday, January 9, revealed that Mr Bruce had died from multiple injuries.

Coroner's officer Brian Wallington said Mr Bruce's family had applied for a cremation certificate.

Mr Gardiner said he saw no reason for the body not to be released.

The inquest was adjourned for at least a month.