ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 175145
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| Date: | Wednesday 29 October 1997 |
| Time: | 18:20 |
| Type: |  Robin HR.200/120B Regent |
| Owner/operator: | Air Alba Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BWPG |
| MSN: | 299 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | In the Cromarty Firth off Nigg Yard, Scotland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Inverness (Dalcross) Airport (INV/EGPE) |
| Inverness (Dalcross) Airport (INV/EGPE) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 29 October 1997 when ditched into the Cromarty Firth due to engine failure, during a night training flight. Both persons on board (pilot and instructor) survived the ditching, but the student swam away from the shore, and was drowned. According to the following extracts from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"At 17:30 hours the student, with the instructor seated on his right, started the engine for his night cross-country flight. He carried out the routine pre-flight and engine run-up checks before departing at 17:45 hours on the first leg of the exercise. Although life jackets were available on the aircraft, neither occupant was wearing one. The weather was clear with visibility greater than 25 km. There was a light southerly wind and the surface temperature was +10°C.
The first leg to Kinloss was flown without incident. Lossiemouth ATC cleared the aircraft to enter the Kinloss Military Air Traffic Zone (MATZ) as it transited through the Kinloss overhead at 2,000 feet. From there the aircraft set out on the 15 nm second leg of the route across the Moray Firth towards Tarbot Ness. ATC informed the crew that the Tain Range, a danger area bordering the coast at their proposed turning point, was active. The student therefore turned the aircraft, to the left, half a mile short of Tarbot Ness in order to remain clear of the area. The instructor later stated that, as they entered the final leg of the route, it was possible to see lights close by Inverness Airport. The aircraft was flown direct towards these lights on a track that diverged slightly from the coastline.
As the aircraft flew 1.5 nm off shore abeam of Fearn, with 13.5 nm to go to Inverness, engine power smoothly reduced to 1,000 RPM from the cruise power setting of 2,400 RPM. The rundown came without warning and with no apparent associated failures. The student had been carrying out his en-route checks meticulously and no carburettor icing, a possible cause for such a power loss, had been experienced. The instructor immediately checked that the fuel pump was 'ON', carburettor heat was selected to 'ON', the mixture was 'ON' and the fuel contents were sufficient.
The student then repeated the same checks as a confirmation. Oil temperature and pressure indications were normal, fuel pressure was in the top three-quarters of its range and the fuel quantity read 'FULL' (indicating that a least 100 litres of fuel remained on board). When the crew actions failed to restore engine power, the instructor told the student to transmit a 'Mayday' call on the Lossiemouth ATC frequency.
ATC responded immediately and informed them that a Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter would be at their location in 8 minutes. The instructor selected the emergency code 7700 on the transponder and pushed the 'Ident' button. The aircraft initially started to descend at approximately 500 feet per minute (fpm). By rapidly pumping the throttle the instructor was able to increase the engine power to 1,500 RPM and, at an indicated airspeed of 60 kt, the aircraft's decent rate was reduced to 50 fpm.
The instructor then repeated all the 'cause of failure' checks once again. However, selection of various settings of the mixture control and checking the magnetos had no effect. The aircraft had been heading for the Cromarty Gap from the time of the engine power loss. The instructor's intention was to aim for the brightly lit area of Nigg and to land on the mud flats beyond.
A heading directly for land was considered impractical as the aircraft would have been below the height of the cliffs as it approached the coastline. The aircraft over flew Nigg Pier, at a height the instructor believed was about 500 feet although it was clearly much lower than that, and descended into the sea between the pier and two moored oil tankers positioned alongside the Nigg oil terminal jetty.
The student had removed both his and the instructor's headsets and unlatched the aircraft's canopy prior to the ditching during which the aircraft pitched inverted. The instructor released his harness and fell onto the unlatched canopy. He escaped from the submerged cockpit and eventually reached the surface, closely followed by his student. Both pilots assumed that the aircraft was in contact with the sea bed as all three wheels were still visible with only the cockpit under water.
They both held onto the wings initially but after approximately one minute the aircraft sank leaving them no option but to swim towards the harbour wall some 200 to 300 metres away. As both men swam together, the instructor spoke to the student and stressed the need to swim slowly and steadily.
After a couple of minutes together, however, the student started to swim away in a more northerly direction. The instructor shouted to 'keep going for the wall' but received no reply. When he reached the harbour he quickly found a ladder to climb the sheer harbour wall. The first rung of the ladder was about 4 feet above his head and, as he struggled to pull himself clear of the water and climb the ladder, he heard the student shouting for help. In the darkness, the instructor could not see the student but shouted back and ran towards a tug moored some distance away.
The crew of the tug helped him on board, switched on their lights and radioed for assistance. Moments later the SAR
helicopter arrived to search the scene. However, all attempts to locate the student proved unsuccessful. The student, who did not survive, was found several weeks later".
The AAIB report confirms that the "Aircraft damaged beyond economic repair" (although the wreckage was recovered for accident examination). As a result the registration G-BWPG was cancelled by the CAA on 26 January 1998 as "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ebdbe5274a13140000c9/G-BWPG.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BWPG
3. http://tagazous.free.fr/affichage2.php?img=38217
4. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12352984.Search_called_off_for_pilot_who_survived_crash_landing_but_disappeared_near_shore/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Apr-2015 16:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 20-Jun-2016 23:11 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
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