Date:	Friday 26 November 1976
Time:	20:05 LT
Type:	Piper PA-31 Navajo
Owner/operator:	Vickers Ltd
Registration:	G-BBPC
MSN:	31-805
Year of manufacture:	1972
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Walney Island Channel, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Executive
Departure airport:	Edinburgh Airport (EDI/EGPH)
Destination airport:	Barrow/Walney Island Airport (BWF/EGNL)
Investigating agency:	AIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 26.11.1976 when crashed into the Walney Island Channel, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, just short of Barrow/Walney Island Airport (BWF/EGNL). Of the six persons on board, one, the pilot, was killed; two passengers were injured, and the other three were uninjured. Spatial disorientation was believed to be the cause of the accident. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:

"The flight took off from Edinburgh Airport at 19:08 hours, and was operated by Vickers Ltd as a company flight. There were 5 passengers and one pilot on board, one of the passenger occupied the right hand pilots seat. The pilot contacted the tower at Walney Airport at 19:52 hours to query the non-directional beacon, the tower confirmed that it was operating.

Shortly afterwards the pilot received clearance to land, the weather was continuous rain and wind at 300 degrees, 25-30 knots. The passenger in the right hand seat confirmed afterwards that the approach seemed normal until sudden engine power was applied and instead of the runway lights ahead the landing lights illuminated trees instead.

The aircraft had undershot the runway and impacted the west bank of Walney Island Channel, approximately 90 metres short and 6.1 metres below the level of the runway. There was no post crash fire".

G-BBPC had been acquired by Vickers Ltd on 26.1.1976, and was presumably scrapped after this accident (the AAIB report confirms that the aircraft received "substantial" damage). However, the registration G-BBPC was only belatedly cancelled by the CAA on 16.5.1983, some seven years after the accident, as aircraft "destroyed"

1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422f9e340f0b613420006e5/12-1977_G-BBPC.pdf
2. CAA: https://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-BBPC.pdf
3. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1276102/ (as N74201)
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrow/Walney_Island_Airport#Accidents_and_incidents
5. G-BBPC at Glasgow 21 July 1975: https://flic.kr/p/hwbwuq
6. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1976/archives/crash-of-a-piper-pa-31-navajo-chieftain-in-united-kingdom-1-killed/]

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Jan-2015 15:42	thechaostheory	Added
26-Jan-2015 18:37	Anon.	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]
28-Apr-2015 00:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Nature, Source, Narrative]
19-Jul-2015 22:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source]
21-Oct-2015 18:42	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
23-Sep-2017 23:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
23-Sep-2017 23:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]