Evidence of identification on Paul Spencer, 43, and his wife, Linda, 59, was taken by the coroner for the western district of North Yorkshire, Geoff Fell. The inquest was adjourned pending the results of the crash investigation.

Mr and Mrs Spencer, who lived near Brighouse in West Yorkshire, ran Country Baskets, a wholesale company selling dried and artificial flowers and decorations. Country Baskets employs about 150 people at branches in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham.

The couple were certified dead at the scene after their Gazelle helicopter – a type originally built in the 1960s for military purposes but now in wide use commercially and privately – crashed only 800 yards from Rudding Park Hotel's helipad.

The helicopter came down late last Saturday afternoon in woodland near the luxury hotel, close to Harrogate's southern bypass. Mr Spencer, who was the pilot, is understood to have taken delivery of the aircraft recently.

The couple's daughter and her husband returned from a skiing holiday after news of the tragedy was broken to them. At the Spencers' home their son-in-law, who wished to remain unnamed, said his wife Natalie was "devastated".

He said: "We are in the process of trying to turn everything around, the business etc, and cope with everything – Natalie just hasn't come to terms with it yet."

Inspectors from the Department of Transport's Air Accidents Investigation Branch examined the wreckage at the scene over the weekend and yesterday began removing the blue-painted Gazelle for further examination at their headquarters at Aldershot, Hampshire.

A post-mortem examination of the bodies of Mr and Mrs Spencer was carried out at Harrogate District Hospital yesterday. They both died of multiple injuries.