ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 161278
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| Date: | Sunday 6 October 2013 |
| Time: | 17:53 LT |
| Type: | Pegasus XL-R |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-MVKM |
| MSN: | SW-WA-1399 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Engine model: | Rotax 447 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Barratt’s Coppice, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Stourbridge. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Illegal Flight |
| Departure airport: | Stourton, Stourbridge |
| Kinver, Worcestershire | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Struck pylons and crashed into a field at Barratt’s Coppice, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Stourbridge, Worcestershire on 6 October 2013. Aircraft de-registered since 30/11/2012 (Registration cancelled on that date as "permanently withdrawn from use"). Its certificate of airworthiness had previously been revoked on 27 May 2010
To quote a local pilot: (From the Express and Star Newspaper): "Geoff Walton, aged 56 from Norton, Stourbridge, a paramotor pilot, who had been flying yesterday afternoon and had set off from Kinver, said he had seen a man setting up to take off in the field. He said he had been flying three or four years and never seen anyone else take off from there. After landing in Kinver, he drove to the field to speak to the man he had seen from the air.
“I spoke to him and his wife and he said he had permission to take off from the field. That must have been at 5.30pm"
UPDATE: The following is from a report of the inquest into the pilots death...
"Inquest jury told pilot killed in crash was unlicensed: Pegasus XL-R, G-MVKM, Stourton, Stourbridge.
A man who was killed when his microlight aircraft hit power lines in Stourton was unlicensed to fly, an inquest heard. Andy Tollerton was told he had not completed the training course to be qualified and no record could be found of him holding a pilot’s license, Staffordshire's coroner heard.
Mr Tollerton, aged 52, died when his Pegasus twin seat aircraft plunged to earth after hitting high voltage wires at 5.53pm on October 6 2013, as he attempted to land in a field off Bridgnorth Road.
The father-of-two suffered fatal head and chest injuries when the single-engine craft hit the ground however a post mortem found no burns consistent with electrocution. A specialist from the Air Accident Investigation Branch told the inquest, held at Staffordshire County Council chambers, that the aircraft was mechanically sound and well maintained but did not have a certificate of air worthiness.
The reason for the collision is unclear, despite being unlicensed Mr Tollerton, an HGV driver from Gerald Road, Wollaston, had records showing more than 90 hours flying experience and had flown from the field, at Barrett’s Coppice Farm, on a number of occasions. The weather was also good at the time of the crash.
Investigator Robert Vickery told the jury after he examined of aerial photos of the scene, taken by an unmanned police aircraft, it was possible Mr Tollerton may not have been aware of the hazard.
Mr Vickery said: “I believe the cables, posts and the angle of the sun conspired to hide themselves causing Mr Tollerton not to see them until it was too late.”
The hearing was also told no alcohol or drugs were found in the dead pilot’s body. The court heard evidence Mr Tollerton normally flew for around 40 minutes at a time but had cut the doomed flight short and was landing after around 15 minutes in the air.
He suffered with kidney stones and the hearing was told if they had moved it could create extreme discomfort however there was no evidence to suggest this had taken place and he seemed in good health prior to take off.
Mr Tollerton used contact lenses but none were found during post mortem examination or at the scene, but Mr Vickery told the jury they may have come out during the accident. The jury concluded there was no obvious reason for Mr Tollerton to have flown into the power lines and his death was the result of an accident."
NOTE: I have been informed that the officially registered owner of G-MVKM sold the aircraft on eBay 18 months before the accident, and if this the case, then the CAA were not informed of the change of ownership. Hence the "operator" is, according to the CAA, the last-known officially registered owner of the aircraft, who, as seems likely, had not, in fact, owned it for quite some time! In view of this, the "operator" has now been changed to that of the pilot who was at the controls when it crashed
Accident investigation:
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|
Sources:
1. https://wmas.nhs.uk/2013/10/06/fatal-microlight-aircraft-crash/
2. http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-10-06/man-dies-after-microlight-aircraft-crash/
3. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/man-dies-after-microlight-plane-6147583
4. https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/10/07/microlight-pilot-dies-after-crashing-into-pylons/
5. http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/10721601.Investigation_underway_after_pilot_killed_in_Stourton_microlight_crash/
6. https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/10/07/pilot-killed-in-staffordshire-microlight-power-line-crash/
7. http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/11088395.Inquest_jury_told_pilot_killed_in_Stourton_crash_was_unlicensed/?ref=var_0
8. http://web.archive.org/web/20160818150931/http://forums.bmaa.org:80/default.aspx?f=54
9. http://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/
10. http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Pegasus%20XL-R,%20G-MVKM%2005-14.pdf
Media:
The AAIB have deployed a team to investigate a fatal microlight accident near Stourton, Staffordshire
— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) October 7, 2013Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Oct-2013 03:59 | FERRYAIR | Added |
| 07-Oct-2013 04:01 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 07-Oct-2013 10:58 | FERRYAIR | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Oct-2013 12:33 | captainbumblet | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-Oct-2013 12:34 | captainbumblet | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Oct-2013 17:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 11-Oct-2013 16:20 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage] |
| 19-Apr-2014 23:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Apr-2014 23:36 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Apr-2014 17:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Nature, Narrative] |
| 20-Apr-2014 18:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-May-2014 02:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Sep-2014 02:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
| 08-Sep-2014 02:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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