Accident Hawker Siddeley HS-748-108 Srs. 2A G-ASPL,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 328070

Date:	Friday 26 June 1981
Time:	18:11
Type:	Hawker Siddeley HS-748-108 Srs. 2A
Owner/operator:	Dan-Air Services
Registration:	G-ASPL
MSN:	1560
Year of manufacture:	1964
Total airframe hrs:	34592 hours
Engine model:	Rolls-Royce Dart 533-2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Nailstone - United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK)
Destination airport:	East Midlands Airport (EMA/EGNX)
Investigating agency:	AIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The aircraft was engaged on a mail carrying freight flight from London-Gatwick Airport to East Midlands Airport, U.K. During the initial descent in preparation for landing at its destination, the attendant in the cabin reported that the mechanical indicators on one of the cabin doors were showing an unlocked condition. Shortly afterwards the right hand rear door (baggage door) came open, detached from its hinge mountings and became lodged on the leading edge of the right horizontal tailplane. The aircraft became uncontrollable and went into an increasingly steep dive which t.elluinated in several abrupt pitch oscillations. Both the mainplanes and the horizontal tailplanes were subjected to overstressing in upload which resulted in their detachment from the fuselage.

CAUSE: "The accident was caused by the baggage door becoming lodged on. the leading edge of the right tailplane after it had opened and detached in flight. This produced changes in the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft which rendered it uncontrollable resulting in overstressing of the wings and tailplane leading to an in-flight structural failure.
A contributory factor was the mis-rigged state of the door operating mechanism which allowed the top and the bottom pairs of claw catches to lose synchronisation. The failure of the door warning arrangements to give adequate warning of door safety was a further contributory factor."

Accident investigation: