ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 184495
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| Date: | Friday 11 May 1990 |
| Time: | 11:58 |
| Type: |  Pierre Robin DR.400/180 |
| Owner/operator: | Shepair Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BPOC |
| MSN: | 761 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Rochester Airport, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Rochester Airfield, Kent (EGTO) |
| Old Warden, Bedfordshire (EGTH) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Ex-F-BTZJ (French registry) from February 1973. French registration cancelled 02-02-1989: re-registered in the UK as G-BPOC on 22-02-1989. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 11-05-1990 when forced landed just beyond the extended runway centre line at Rochester Airport, Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent, due to engine failure
On the morning of 11 May 1990 Robin DR.400 G-BPOC took off from Rochester Airport with the intention of flying to Old Warden. At about 100 feet the engine started misfiring and losing power. The pilot sought to maintain height to enable him to make a forced landing in a field to starboard. However whilst he was concentrating on managing the engine, his starboard wing dropped and the Robin descended rapidly. He managed to raise the wing but impact with the ground was now inevitable. The Robin came to earth just beyond the runway threshold and inverted. The pilot and two rear seat passengers were able to exit the Robin but the front seat passenger was trapped in it until rescuers arrived on the scene and lifted the aircraft. Fortunately, despite a fractured fuel pipe, there was no fire. The pilot suffered severe injuries but those of his passengers were insubstantial.
As to the cause of the crash, according to the AAIB report the pilot appears to have attributed this to engine malfunction. However that also indicates that he conceded that he may have over rotated (i.e. pulled the control column back too far and thus climbed too steeply) on and thus eased the stick forward after take-off. The report also mentions that a witness said that the Robin climbed very steeply after a short take-off roll. The book "British Civil Aircraft Register 1919-1999" goes further and describes the incident as a 'fatal crash after stalling on take-off'. Unless one or more of those on board the Robin died at some time after the crash (I have not come across an addendum to the AAIB report, which one might expect if there was a subsequent accident related death), I have found nothing to support the description 'fatal crash'.
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "aircraft damaged beyond economic repair". As a result, the registration G-BPOC was cancelled by the CAA on 23-07-1990 as "Permanently withdrawn from use"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422fa62e5274a1314000767/Pierre_Robin_DR400-180__G-BPOC_09-90.pdf
2. Chatham Standard - Tuesday 15 May 1990
3. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17741.0
4. http://www.flydw.org.uk/DWR400B.htm
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20120928112413/http://www.immat.aviation-civile.gouv.fr:80/immat/servlet/
6. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BPOC.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Airport_(Kent)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Feb-2016 00:54 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 07-Nov-2020 02:43 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 17-Jul-2022 20:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Category] |
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