An SAS captain who died when his parachute failed to open during a training jump would be alive today if he had been issued with basic safety equipment, a coroner ruled yesterday.

As Captain Daniel Wright, 25, fell 2,500ft to his death he was unable to hear the shouts from instructors on the ground urging him to cut himself free from his main parachute and trigger his reserve to save his life.

The soldier’s mother, Carol, condemned the Ministry of Defence as “penny-pinching” for not issuing soldiers with £50 radios to ensure they could hear instructions from coaches during training jumps. While the radios are mandatory in civilian training, they were not provided by the MoD when Captain Wright attended his course in Weston-on-the-Green airfield near RAF Brize Norton in November 2005.

As Captain Wright, a member of the Queens Gurkha Signals, span out of control he deployed his reserve chute. “For the sake of a flipping radio they have lost a potential star amongst their ranks,” she said after the hearing at Oxford Coroner’s Court.“It’s such a terrible waste. He was a talented young man who was likely to have had a glittering military career.

“We ask the MoD to accept their penny-pinching in not providing the same level of safety equipment as is provided for civilian parachute students has resulted in a far greater use of public funds — for example, the cost of this court case this week.

“We will never see our son’s lovely face or hear his cheery voice again. The Army has lost a consummate professional and an inspirational officer.”

During the inquest, Mrs Wright and her husband, Irwin, from Newport, South Wales, heard how there had been repeated calls for parachute trainees to be issued with the radios before an accident happened.

Captain Wright’s parents had watched a video of their son’s 30-second fall as instructors at the drop zone shouted instructions. The hearing was told that the radios were not issued because of concerns about funding.

Recording a narrative verdict, Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, said: “Let there be no doubt, this tragedy happened for the want of a simple, inexpensive piece of equipment.”

He continued: “Captain Wright, on the balance of probability, would not have died had an operator on the ground at the drop zone been able to communicate with him using a radio.

“At the time Captain Wright took the parachute course, requests for these radios had been refused as funding was only available for essential items.”

The inquest was told that a squadron leader had called for soldiers to be issued with radios during parachute training nine months before the death of Captain Wright.

The MoD parachute school has now been issued with 45 radios for the next training session next month.

A spokesman for the MoD said: “We are committed to providing our Armed Forces with the best possible equipment, whether for use on the front line or in training.

“The board of inquiry into this incident concluded in June 2006 and made a number of recommendations. We have already acted on many of these and from April all parachute training will involve radios.

“The RAF will, of course, consider carefully the findings of this inquest and make any further changes necessary to ensure the highest possible level of safety.” He added that such radios cost £1,000.

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