ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 186355
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| Date: | Saturday 15 February 1992 |
| Time: | 18:38 loc |
| Type: |  Cessna 172N Skyhawk II |
| Owner/operator: | Tropical Aviation Distributors Inc (reg owner) |
| Registration: | N9998E |
| MSN: | 172-72310 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near M25 Motorway, West Thurrock, Essex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Kidlington (Oxford) Airport (OXF/EGTK) |
| Flanders Airport, Wevelgem, Belgium (KJK/EBKT) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 15 February 1992 when crashed at a construction site adjacent to the M25 motorway at West Thurrock, Essex. Of the four persons on board (pilot and three passengers) two passengers were killed, with one passenger and the pilot being seriously injured. According to a rough translation (from French into English) of a contemporary Belgian newspaper report (see link #4):
"BELGIAN KILLED TWO AND TWO INJURED - AIRCRAFT FALLS NEAR LONDON
Monday, February 17, 1992
Two dead and two seriously injured Saturday evening in the crash of a passenger aircraft registered in the United States but owned by a Belgian firm, which crashed on a construction site along the M25 Highway, the London ring road, at West Thurrock. The single-engine Cessna 172, operated by the firm Cidra, Drongen (Ghent), related to the company ACD, Wevelgem, had arrived recently from the mother plant in the United States when it was still registered. Its pilot, Patrick Duhout, held a US licence for IFR night flights.
Saturday at 10:45, Patrick Duhout (aged 24 years), residing in Roeselare, but originally from Brussels, had taken off from Wevelgem towards Oxford. According to the British police, he took three passengers, Alexander Staumont, and Messrs. White father and son, for a business trip. The pilot would have informed the control tower that he intended to return to Wevelgem that evening. But neither in Ostend or in Wevelgem, is said to have received the telex while the Cessna 172 had taken the air from Oxford at 19:00 pm (CET).
At 19:35, Patrick Duhout launched a "Mayday, Mayday", international distress signal. Seconds later the plane disappeared from radar screens. In the fall, thought to be caused by engine failure, the Cessna N9998E collided with power lines before crashing on site at West Thurrock, less than thirty meters from a gas station. The "narrow escape from disaster, whose scale can not be estimated, given the heavy traffic on this highway bypassing London", said yesterday a spokesman for the Essex police.
Emergency services had to cut a wing of the wreck before freeing the occupants. But for one of them, it was too late, and a second died before arriving at hospital. They were Mr. Staumont and Mr. White senior, domiciled in the Brussels area where Mr. Lancia Staumont operated a garage. The son of Mr. White, 8, suffered multiple fractures to his arms, legs and a head injury. Patrick Duhout (the pilot) suffered multiple fractures and internal injuries.
On Tuesday, a commission of inquiry to examine the debris airfield convened at Farnborough. British police were especially interested in the technical difficulties that would have arisen in the morning to Wevelgem. They interviewed Mr. Dardenne, owner of the ACD firm".
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "aircraft destroyed - minor damage to electricity power lines". However, the official FAA registration document states that the registration N9998E was cancelled with effect from April 3 1992 as "exported to Belgium" (sic).
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422fd2640f0b61342000821/Cessna_172N_Skyhawk__N9998E_07-92.pdf
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=9998E
3. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N9998E.html
4. http://www.lesoir.be/archive/recup/deux-belges-tues-et-deux-blesses-graves-un-avion-tombe-_t-19920217-Z04ZZ3.html?noCookies=1
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Apr-2016 19:48 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 11-Apr-2016 19:48 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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