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Inquest opened into death of skydiver Madeleine Trask, 22, at Langar Airfield

An inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court heard that Madeleine Trask, 22, died of a provisional head injury at Langar Airfield on 5 July. The hearing was adjourned with no date set.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Mail
Image: Daily Mirror

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2An inquest has opened at Nottingham Coroner's Court into the death of Madeleine Trask, 22, who died at Langar Airfield in Nottinghamshire on 5 July 2026. Mixed · 2The court heard that a post-mortem examination gave a provisional cause of death of head injury. Right · 1Karen Boyle, Assistant Coroner for Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire, adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed and offered condolences to Ms Trask's family and friends. The Daily Mail reported that no other details of the death were given at the brief hearing.

Right · 1Nottinghamshire Police said at the time that officers were called at 12.13pm and that the woman was found in a nearby field and pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner said Ms Trask was identified to a police officer at the scene at 1.54pm. Mixed · 2Skydive Langar said after the death that it involved an 'experienced skydiver' and that the team was 'devastated by this tragic loss'. A company spokesman declined to comment on the inquest opening. Mixed · 2British Skydiving, the sport's governing body, said a board of inquiry would be convened to investigate the circumstances of the death. The Mail describes it as regulating the activity on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority.

Mixed · 2Both papers drew on Ms Trask's online profiles for her work at Skydive Langar. The Mail, citing social media, said she had been a parachute packer for three-and-a-half years; the Mirror, citing LinkedIn, said she began in the café in May 2023 and became a packer from summer 2025. The Mail also said she attended Berkhamsted School and had been president of the University of Nottingham's skydiving club. Right · 1The Mail added background: Skydive Langar opened in 1977 and is described as the UK's busiest civilian skydiving centre, with more than 50,000 jumps a year from six light aircraft. It also quoted a local farmer who said a skydiver landed in a field of corn across Harby Road from the airfield. Mixed · 2How the incident happened remains unexplained in public: no findings on the circumstances have been given, and the full inquest date is not yet set.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Short, factual inquest report led by the cause of death and the experienced skydiver found in a field, with the company and governing-body statements.
Emphasis
Cause of death, emergency services called, Skydive Langar's statement, British Skydiving's board of inquiry.
Leaves out or plays down
Omits the coroner's name, the timings, her school and university background, and the airfield's size and safety context.
For example
“The experienced skydiver was found in a nearby field and pronounced dead.” — Daily Mirror

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Longer report that opens with her private-school background in the headline, then adds personal and local detail and background on the centre.
Emphasis
Her schooling and fees, her roles at Skydive Langar, police timings, a neighbouring farmer, the centre's scale.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention that police, firefighters and paramedics attended; does not quote the British Skydiving statement on a board of inquiry.
Charged language
“Former public schoolgirl”
For example
“She went to Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire, where fees now cost up to £10,844.27 per term” — Daily Mail

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