ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 188530
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| Date: | Thursday 7 October 1999 |
| Time: | 15:35 |
| Type: |  Cessna 152 |
| Owner/operator: | Alvaro Joseph Gomes |
| Registration: | G-BTGR |
| MSN: | 152-84447 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 3 miles NE of Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA) |
| Shoreham, West Sussex (EGKA) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 7-10-1999 when crashed 3 miles North East of Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex. The pilot (the sole person on board) sustained only minor injuries. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The pilot had planned to conduct a local flight from Shoreham Airfield to overhead the nearby Brighton Marina and return. He held a PPL and was only qualified for flight in VMC. At approximately 600 feet, as the pilot commenced the left turn over Brighton Marina, he encountered rapidly deteriorating conditions and informed Air Traffic Control at Shoreham that he intended to return immediately. The controller, who had now lost sight of the aircraft, gave him clearance to return for Runway 21 and requested that he call downwind. The pilot was informed that Runway 25 was also available if required.
At 15:31 hours the pilot announced that he was lost. He was given further instructions to turn onto 200 degrees whilst maintaining 1,600 feet. By this stage the controller had contacted the Distress and Diversion cell at LATCC who offered to assist. They requested that the aircraft be told to climb to 2,000 feet in order for them to obtain an accurate position fix.
The controller passed this instruction to Golf Romeo having considered that this might place the aircraft above the cloud base. He then directed other arriving traffic into the hold at 3,000 feet, whilst he attempted to place Golf Romeo onto a southerly heading on the assumption that the aircraft was now at 2,000 feet.
At 15:34 hr the pilot made a number of transmissions which indicated that he was now disorientated and very concerned. The controller attempted to reassure the pilot and limited further instructions to the pilot requesting only that he maintain 2,000 feet and continue heading southbound. Shortly afterwards the aircraft broke out of the base of the cloud at about 500 feet and the pilot found himself over open fields.
He decided to land immediately. The aircraft landed in a sloping field but came to rest inverted. The pilot eventually managed to extricate himself from the wreckage. As soon as the pilot transmitted that he was attempting to land in a field the controller advised him of the surface wind and then activated the crash alarm.
The resident police unit responded immediately and their helicopter was airborne at 15:40 hours. The helicopter pilot described the meteorological conditions as challenging but just within his limits. He estimated the visibility as 1,500 metres with a cloud base at 300 feet, the south westerly wind was reported as 15 knots with gusts to 25 knots.
Over the hills to the north of the airfield he estimated the visibility to be 1,000 metres with a cloud base of about 200 feet. After searching in the area of the base leg for Runway 21 the helicopter then moved towards the higher ground to the north east of the airfield. The pilot was seen walking through a field and the helicopter landed to assist him"
The concluding paragraph of the AAIB report summarises the situation well, when it says:
"After the flight had been authorised the meteorological conditions deteriorated markedly and rapidly below those that were forecast. The pilot was subsequently provided with an update on the meteorological conditions by the flying instructor and, prior to his take-off clearance, by ATC. Nevertheless, the pilot became airborne and rapidly encountered conditions that were beyond his capabilities."
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "aircraft destroyed". However, the registration G-BTGR was (as at July 2019, some 19 years later) still not been cancelled, and is still current. On the other hand, CAA records show a date of "no flight" declaration as 6-7-2020, almost 20 years after the above incident.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ef3f40f0b6134600028b/dft_avsafety_pdf_501461.pdf
2. AAIB: Previous accident at Shoreham 28/6/1993: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423016fe5274a1317000b31/Cessna_152__G-BTGR_09-93.pdf
3. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BTGR
4. G-BTGR at Redhill (EGKR) in 1991: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1282193
5. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-BTGR/964625
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17977.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Jul-2016 20:14 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 06-Dec-2020 23:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 06-Dec-2020 23:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Dec-2020 23:34 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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