THE widow of a Ryanair pilot who was killed in a horror crash has spoken out about her struggle as the lorry driver responsible for the deadly pile up is jailed.
Hannah Greenhalgh spoke at Liverpool Crown Court before HGV driver Anthony Burns, 63, was sentenced.
The widow of Captain Matt Greenhalgh, 28, fought back tears as she gave an emotional statement.
Her husband, Mr Greenhalgh, 28, and Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes, 24, died in a traffic collision on the M62 in July 2024.
The horrific crash also left taxi driver Rashid Mehmood with serious injuries.
Commercial driver Anthony Burns admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The two Ryanair pilots died in a horror 5.30am car crash on July 11 after finishing a 17-hour shift.
They had started work at 11.40am the previous day, flying from Liverpool to Palma and returning that evening.
They then flew an empty jet to Luton, where they landed at 1.14am before the horror pile-up involving a taxi and two lorries.
Taxi driver Mr Mehmood was left with broken ribs and a broken shoulder in the horror smash.
He clambered out of the wreckage of his Toyota Auris after shouting for help to astonished police officers.
Mr Mehmood told how he has “not driven a taxi since” the tragic incident.
The father-of-one also suffered spinal injuries and said he struggles with anger in the wake of the deadly collision.
The HGV driven by Burns showed he ignored a 40mph advisory speed limit due to the weather and a traffic jam.
Burns only hit the brakes one second before his lorry barrelled into the rear of Mr Mehmood’s Toyota taxi, which was carrying Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh.
Damian Nolan, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court the taxi sustained “devastating crush damage on all sides”
The impact rotated the motor 180 degrees in the road, the prosecutor explained.
Both pilots suffered traumatic head injuries and “other multiple injuries” in the smash.
The court heard how Burns was not on his phone or under the influence of drink or drugs when his lorry ploughed into the back of the taxi.
Mr Greenhalgh’s grieving widow recalled how she had kissed her husband, who qualified as a pilot at age 19, goodbye on July 10 as he left for work.
Tragedy struck the next day, just months after he and Mrs Greenhalgh had married in Las Vegas.
The couple had bought their first home, tied the knot and were planning their future together, Mrs Greenhalgh said, adding that the pair wanted to start a family together.
In an emotional statement made to the court, Mrs Greenhalgh said: “At 27, after three months’ marriage, I became a widow.
“I struggle to see how I can have a future after everything was taken from me.”
The court heard as Mrs Greenhalgh explained her home became “unbearable because I kept seeing Matt sat before me.”
Mrs Greenhalgh said that she had a sixth sense something was wrong when she failed to receive a text from her new husband on the morning of the smash and was left waiting at home for a message.
She explained how she frantically began calling around hospitals to find out what had happened before the police arrived to deliver the terrible news.
She added that her husband had “Got passengers home safely every day but he didn’t make it home himself.”
The widow would describe how in the months following the collision she endured torment – asking to see the lorry Burns had been driving, which was fully loaded when the deadly smash happened and weighed in at 44 tonnes.
Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes’s family first became aware of the tragedy via his Apple device which detected the crash and called emergency services.
They would go on to call Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire police before the horrible news was confirmed.
Mr Fernandes’s mother Amanda Lindsay said: “Our lives can never be fixed. I will never understand why it had to be him.
“What tortures us more than anything is how much we’re missing him and if he’s up there missing us, too.”
She said her son’s bedroom in Chorley, Lancashire, remained untouched.
Burns was “riven with remorse” and suffered mental health difficulties in the aftermath of the deadly incident, his barrister Michael Hayton, KC, said.
The barrister said his client had never previously had an accident in 30 years as a commercial driver.
However, he did receive three penalty points in 2021 for carrying an unsafe load.
The court also heard he had 28 previous convictions and received suspended prison sentences for arson and assault.
Burns was arrested the day after the tragic collision but offered no comment to all questions asked and no explanation for the manner of his driving.
As he handed down sentence, judge Simon Medland, KC, said the collision was a “dreadful, tragic episode.”
Burns was given a ten year prison sentence and banned from driving for 150 months – he must also pass an extended retest before driving again.
Judge Medland said Burns had “shown a lack of attention for a substantial period of time” before the crash.
He told the grieving families of the pilots: “My sympathy and commiseration lies with each of you.”
In a heartbreaking tribute Mr Greenhalgh’s family said: “Matt had a passion for life and seized every opportunity that came his way.
“He had already achieved so much in such a short life, with so much more planned.
“Matt discovered his ambition for becoming a pilot in his teenage years, following a flying lesson that was gifted by his aunt.
“His hard work and determination led to a successful career with Ryanair, recently being promoted to Captain.
“He loved the skies and flying, never growing tired of the scenic views from the cockpit.
“Matt was a keen sportsman; in his younger years enjoying rugby and cricket, and more recently golf and cycling.
“He wanted to try anything and everything, constantly seeking new adventures.”
After the tragedy Ryanair said it would erect a plaque in memory of the two pilots at the East Midlands Training Centre.
Ryanair pilots killed in horror motorway pile-up just finished 17-hour shift – sparking fury from union
TWO Ryanair pilots who died in a horror 5.30am car crash were finishing a 17-hour shift — to the outrage of unions.
Captain Matt Greenhalgh, 28, and Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes, 24, died in a pile-up involving a taxi and two lorries on the M62 on July 11.
They started work at 11.40am the previous day, flying from Liverpool to Palma and returning that evening.
They then flew an empty jet to Luton, where they landed at 1.14am.
They were in the taxi returning to Liverpool airport when they were killed in the early morning crash.
Union Unite wants to know why they were not offered a hotel stopover.
A Ryanair source said: “It leaves a very bad taste that they were on the road in the early hours.
“Unite is worried cost cuts are making the working lives of staff dangerous.”
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