AN oil worker from Bolton is planning to sue the Libyan authorities after learning he was moments from death in a plane crash because vital safety equipment was switched off.

Brian Buckland, 60, from Great Lever, was trapped unconscious with a shattered leg off the coast of Libya in the sea-filled wreckage of the twin-engine private jet.

He miraculously swam to safety through a hole in the fuselage after he regained consciousness.

An investigation has found his friend Ray Parfitt, 53, from Cheshire and four other Britons died in the crash when the pilot failed to activate a de-icing device -- possibly to save money.

Mr Buckland, a father of two from a previous marriage, said he was now going to fight for compensation from the Libyan government, along with the families of the dead men and seven other British survivors.

It is the first time Mr Buckland has heard what caused the jet, transporting oil workers, to plunge into the Mediterranean in January killing 22 people -- the Libyan pilot and his co-pilot survived.

Speaking to the BEN from his home in Walker Avenue, Mr Buckland said: "There have been all sorts of rumours about how the plane came to crash.

"I intend to make a joint action with the families of the others involved. I am waiting for my solicitor to send me all the information."

He added: "I am trying to put it behind me as much as I can."

Mr Buckland still cannot walk more than a few dozen steps after suffering dreadful injuries to one of his feet -- his shattered toes will never gain full mobility.

As reported in the BEN on Saturday, it was at the inquest held in Sale into the death of Roy Parfitt from Cheshire that the cause of the crash came to light.

Mr Buckland, who was not at the emotional inquest into the death of his friend, had spent nine months unable to break through red tape.

Relatives of Mr Parfitt wept after they heard the jet crashed because the captain failed to flick two routinely used cockpit switches.

It led to melting ice cutting dead both engines when the plane began its descent to Libya's main oil refinery, Marsa El Brega, 500 miles from Tripoli.

Mr Buckland, a maintenance fitter at the huge refinery, had been flying back after spending Christmas with his family.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Parfitt's family vowed to join Mr Buckland and the others to fight for compensation.

And Mr Parfitt's daughter Kathy Morse, 33, from Worsley, slammed the "utter incompetence" which led to her father's death.