A DEVOTED family man who was among 11 people killed when a helicopter crashed into the North Sea had chosen to come home a week early to spend more time with his wife and sons, it was revealed last night.

Hard-working Douglas Learwood had taken a last -minute chance to join his young family on Teesside when he boarded the ill-fated Sikorsky flight.

Last night, his widow Belinda said she had lost her soulmate and her boys had lost a fantastic father.

She was speaking as an initial report into last week's tragedy revealed that a faulty rotor blade had brought the chopper crashing down into the sea.

Two pilots and nine passengers died in the crash during what should have been a routine ten-minute flight ferrying men working on offshore gas rigs and platforms.

Mr Learwood, a Shell instrument technician, was travelling with a fellow Teessider, 45-year-old Stuart Coggon, who was also killed, when the Sikorsky S-76A crashed about 30 miles off Cromer, Norfolk.

Last night, Mr Learwood's widow, Belinda, of Marton, Middlesbrough, said: "He had at the last minute taken the opportunity to come home a week early before starting his summer holiday to spend a bit more time with us.

"I have lost my soulmate and best friend, and the boys an irreplaceable role model and fantastic dad.

"Unselfishly, his first thoughts would have been for us and the other victims' families.

"Dougie was a hard-working family man who loved life. He was settled and happy before the tragic event, having reached a point of contentment in his life with most dreams and ambitions realised.

"He was the guy that people turned to in times of adversity because of his strength, pragmatism, caring and sensitive ways."

The family said it was ironic that the former Cleveland Police officer was killed in an accident because they often pulled his leg, calling him "Mr Safety" because of his careful nature.

Mr Learwood was a keen rugby player, coaching the minis team at his local club, and was a motorcycle fanatic.

He also loved nothing better than taking his sons Joshua, nine, and Benjamin, six, out fishing.

Experts from the Department of Transport's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) have spent the past few days trying to establish the cause of the crash.

Their initial report says that a main rotor blade fractured, causing the helicopter to fall apart before plummeting into the sea.

The blade showed evidence of fatigue, which may have been caused when it was hit by lightning three years ago.

The report says experts had examined the data recorder and there was no evidence of pilot error in the final minutes of the doomed flight.

The pilots had discussed an "increase in vibration", but it was so small it gave them no cause for concern.

"Minutes later, a catastrophic event occurred," says the report.

At the time, the helicopter was travelling at 100 knots at about 400ft.

Air crash investigators will now look into the reasons for the broken blade before issuing a final report.

A neighbour of Mr Coggon, an Amec engineering draughtsman from Middlesbrough, said his family were still coming to terms with their loss.