ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 244740
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| Date: | Sunday 18 November 1984 |
| Time: | 13:23 UTC |
| Type: |  Varga 2150A Kachina |
| Owner/operator: | Metro Air Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BLHZ |
| MSN: | VAC 163-80 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Gravesend, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Banner and glider towing |
| Departure airport: | Rochester Airport, Rochester, Kent (EGTO) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On the afternoon of 18 November 1984 Varga Kachina G-BLHZ took off from Rochester Airfield, flew a circuit and then descended to pick up a banner which it proceeded to tow whilst circling over Gravesend
Something must have gone wrong, as at low level over Gravesend, the pilot dropped the banner, which landed on a house and the adjacent road. The 'something' was the Varga's engine cutting out. As a result, the pilot made a forced landing on a school playing field. Unfortunately on this field were a number of fenced tennis courts. It overflew these and made a three point landing, but presumably the pilot concluded that he would not be able to bring the Varga to a halt in the available distance between its touch down and a nursery school on the opposite side of the field.
Fortunately the engine restarted, surged and the Varga climbed away. But the pilot's relief must have been short lived. The engine must have failed again as the Varga had to make a second forced landing on a field close to a sports centre on the eastern side of Gravesend. Sadly this offered no better a prospect than the school field. The Varga touched down, bounced, touched down again 36 metres further on, rolled for 150 metres, went up a bank and was arrested by a chain-link fence and a concrete post. The pilot was uninjured and able to leave the Varga without assistance.
The Varga suffered insubstantial damage to its spinner, propeller, cowlings and starboard wing tip. I haven't yet ascertained whether the Varga was repaired and flown again. However it is not current, its registration having been cancelled by the CAA on 3 June 1992.
And why did the Varga have to make not one but two forced landings? Simple. It's not easy to fly on empty fuel tanks! When, after its forced landing, the Varga was examined, two of its tanks were empty and the third contained only 0.125 pints of fuel. It wasn't the fuel gauges. Whilst these were not perfect, they provided clear level indications in the sub half full zones. The pilot's explanation of this - and why the Varga was being used for banner towing when it had not been certified for this - had not been forthcoming at the time of writing of the AIB report on the incident which I've seen. Maybe it's not hard to surmise the reason why!
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f366e5274a1317000485/Varga_2150A_Kahina_G-BLHZ_02-85.pdf
2. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BLHZ.html
3. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17641.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Nov-2020 21:16 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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