Date:	Sunday 10 October 1971
Time:	17:30 LT
Type:	Mooney M20E Super 21
Owner/operator:	B.I. (Dental Equipment) Ltd
Registration:	G-ASNR
MSN:	278
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	English Channel, between Le Touquet and Biggin Hill -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Le Touquet, France (LFAT)
Destination airport:	Biggin Hill Airport, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent (BQH/EGKB)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Mooney M.20: First UK registered as G-ASNR on 7/1/64. Between January 1964 and May 1970, this aircraft was sold on and re-registered seven times. The final owners (from 5/5/70) were B.I.(Dental Equipment) Ltd., Beckenham, Kent.

G-ASNR was presumed written off (destroyed) on 10/10/71 when it went missing en route between Le Touquet, France and Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent. The last confirmed sighting of this aircraft was off Cap Gris Nez, France. A couple of contemporary newspaper reports give further details, and names three (of the four) missing persons on board:

"Liverpool Echo - Monday 11 October 1971:
SEA HUNT FOR LOST PLANE
A massive air and sea hunt was launched to-day for four men whose light aircraft is feared to have crashed in the Channel on a flight from France to Biggin Hill. The aircraft, a Mooney Super 21, owned by the B.I. Dental Equipment Company, of Limes Road, Beckenham, was due at Biggin Hill at 5.30 last night. But after radioing that he was crossing the coast at Cap Gris Nez, the pilot lost contact."

"Birmingham Daily Post - Tuesday 12 October 1971:
CHANNEL HUNT
A daylong Channel search for a light aircraft with four people on board was called off late last night. When darkness fell the plane was more than 24 hours overdue.

The plane, hired for the day by a Chelsea dentist, Mr. Maurice Thompson, was on its way from Le Touquet to Biggin Hill. Two others on board were named as Mr. Bruce Newton. of the King's Head, Earls Court, London, and Mr. Barry Seymour, another dentist."

It would seem that no trace was ever found of the aircraft or the four persons on board, and the registration G-ASNR was cancelled 10/10/71 as "P.W.F.U." ("Permanently Withdrawn From Use"). A note on the aircraft's registration card indicates that this action was carried out retrospectively, on 19/10/71. Note that the above newspaper reports state that there were four persons on board (pilot and three passengers). However, if there were four on board, only three of them were named in the above reports.

1. Liverpool Echo - Monday 11 October 1971
2. Birmingham Daily Post - Tuesday 12 October 1971
3. Kensington Post - Friday 29 October 1971
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ASNR-1.pdf
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ASNR-2.pdf
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16054.0
7. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000863609.html
8. G-ASNR at Biggin Hill 10/5/64: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1502210
9. G-ASNR at Ipswich Airport (IPW/EGSE) in July 1969; https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1473993
10. G-ASNR at Biggin Hill in 1970: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1090901 .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Mar-2020 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Added
23-Mar-2020 21:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source, Narrative]
17-Jul-2022 22:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]