
Paul Bowers was crushed while working for a firm at Cambridge Airport in 2013
A man was crushed to death by a stack of aeroplane parts after warnings about dangerous working conditions were ignored by bosses, a court heard.
Paul Bowers, 47, died when several tonnes of metal fell on him in January 2013 while working at the warehouse of CAV Cambridge at Cambridge Airport.
The Old Bailey trial heard the components were stacked too high.
Parent company CAV Aerospace, from County Durham, has pleaded not guilty to corporate manslaughter.
Mr Bowers, of Peverel Close, Cambridge, died of severe multiple injuries on 26 January 2013, an inquest heard.
Cambridgeshire Police charged the aerospace firm following evidence from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
'Dangerously high'
Consett-based CAV Aerospace, which owns five sites in the UK and four abroad, was responsible for ordering stock and maintaining health and safety at the warehouse run by a subsidiary company.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the court Cav Aerospace had been warned that piles of components were "dangerously high".
Mr Bowers died when an unstable stack of metal components toppled on to him as he made his way down a "designated safe walkway", trapping him up to his chest and crushing him.
The components had not been stacked safely and there was too much stock in the hangar, Mr Atkinson said.
"Only the senior management team of CAV Aerospace Ltd... had the power to resolve this problem before such an accident occurred.
"Despite the repeated and explicit warnings they received, they failed to do so by 26 January 2013."
He alleged CAV Aerospace Ltd was "guilty of negligent acts and omissions" and breached its duty of care to workers in the hangar.
The trial continues.