Tributes for retired City lawyer killed in helicopter tragedy on fishing trip

- Rupert Beaumont was former senior partner at Slaughter and May
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Friends today paid tribute to a former City lawyer killed in a helicopter accident on a fishing trip in Siberia.

Retired solicitor Rupert Beaumont, 69, and a friend were killed instantly when the chartered helicopter tilted on to its side after landing, hitting them with its rotor blades.

The Eurocopter E120B is believed to have lurched as one of its wheels sank into water-logged earth. Pictures emerged today showing the helicopter with its rotor blades snapped off.

Mr Beaumont and his friend are thought to have paid about £4,000 for the holiday. Their Russian interpreter, Alexander Tushnikov, 53, a specialist in fishing trips, was also killed.

Pilot Alexander Shabalin, who has 25 years’ experience, survived the accident on the Kola Peninsula yesterday morning and made a distress call.

Russia’s Investigative Committee today launched a criminal inquiry into the deaths amid claims that Mr Shabalin could have initially misled police about the accident. Investigative sources pointed to pilot error.

Mr Beaumont, from Hook in Hampshire, worked as a senior partner at City firm Slaughter and May until retiring in 2001.

Friend Christopher Saul, senior partner at the firm, said his death was a terrible shock.

Traged: Rupert Beaumont died instantly

He said: “This is the most tragic news and Rupert will be hugely missed. He was a warm and generous man, a fabulous lawyer who was much appreciated by his clients and a fine colleague. Our hearts go out to his family.” Mr Beaumont was director of the New Zealand golf club in Surrey, and previously held 22 other directorships.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1968 and moved to New York before joining Slaughter and May a year later.

His wife Susie was in Australia when she was told of her husband’s death and was today flying back to the UK.

It is thought the Britons were due to stay at a tourist camp on the Rynda river, which is famous for its salmon.

The peninsula was once a top secret submarine base for the Soviet navy’s northern fleet but is known as the ultimate destination for high-end fishing tours for Atlantic salmon with more than 100 British anglers heading to its lodges every week during the peak summer season.

Many of the spots are inaccessible by road, with travellers flown to the wilderness areas by helicopter.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the deaths of two British nationals in Russia.

“We are in touch with the local authorities and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

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