Almost two years after a collision in mid-air claimed the life of a Gabor Varga, 45, during the tragic Aero GP race held over Marsamxett Harbour, the surviving pilot, Eddie Goggins, said he will hold the organisers responsible for any claim which may be brought against him.

In an official letter presented to the First Hall of Civil Court, Irishman Edward William Goggins, 38, stated that himself, the owners of his plane Firewall Aviation Limited and his insurers Allianz Marine and Aviation Versicherungs AG, will hold organisers Flying Aces Limited responsible for any claim brought against them with regard to the accident that took place on 10 September 2006, immediately after a practice lap over the harbour.

On that day, Mr Goggins’s Extra 200 aircraft chewed the tail off Swede Gabor “the wild one” Varga’s Yak 55. The Irishman managed to gain some altitude and flip his plane onto its back, allowing him to bail out. Mr Varga, on the other hand, was less fortunate as his aircraft slammed into the water just off Tigné Point.

Civil Protection Department divers immediately went underwater to try and free the pilot from the wreckage of the plane, which had settled on the bottom at a depth of about 13 metres. They managed to get him out of the airframe within two minutes, but he had already passed away by the time he was brought to the surface.

An autopsy showed that he was dead when he was brought to the surface having suffered a ruptured lung, serious multiple injuries combined with drowning, the police said.

The letter was signed by Dr Franco Vassallo.