ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 181265
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| Date: | Tuesday 21 August 1984 |
| Time: | 12:15 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub |
| Owner/operator: | London Gliding Club (Proprietary) Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BHUF |
| MSN: | 18-8009058 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Dunstable Downs, Tring Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Dunstable Downs, Tring Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire |
| Dunstable Downs, Tring Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 21/8/1984 when crashed at Dunstable Downs, Tring Road, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, whilst towing a glider. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report:
"The Piper Cub took off from Dunstable Down airfield, towing a Schleicher ASK 18 glider. The wind was from the south east, blowing off the downs at 15 to 18 knots, gusting to 22 knots. There was broken thermal activity, and turbulence in the lee of the downs.
Shortly after take off, the tug/glider combination completed a 90 degree turn to the right. Eyewitnesses then saw the glider under tow climb to an unusually high position behind the Piper Cub tug, and the tail of the tug was seen to rise. The Piper Cub tug then pitched down very quickly, dived steeply into the ground from about 200 feet, and caught fire on impact. The pilot of the glider tug (the sole POB) was killed.
The glider under tow managed to separate from the tug, and made a successful emergency landing close to the point where the tug/glider combination had taken off. The glider pilot had no recollection of releasing the tow rope himself, and it is presumed that the tow rope had snapped whilst under strain, during the tug aircraft's dive into the ground"
Damage to airframe: Per the AAIB report, "aircraft destroyed by impact and fire". As a result the registration G-BHUF was cancelled by the CAA on 2/12/1986 (over two years later) as "destroyed".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422fe2340f0b61346000a0b/Piper_PA18_Super_Cub_G-BHUF_11-84.pdf
2. CAA; http://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://dunstablehpc.co.uk/site-guides/dunstable-downs-site-guide/]
4. http://www.londonglidingclub.co.uk/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Nov-2015 13:55 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 12-Nov-2015 13:59 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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