Accident Hawker Hurricane XII (IIb) G-HURR,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 58887
 
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Date:Saturday 15 September 2007
Time:14:22 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic HURI model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Hawker Hurricane XII (IIb)
Owner/operator:Spitfire Ltd
Registration: G-HURR
MSN: 52024
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:1 nm NW of Shoreham Airport, West Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA)
Destination airport:Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA)
Investigating agency: AAIB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The Hurricane aircraft, G-HURR, was taking part in a flying display and was following another Hurricane in a tail chase. Both aircraft flew past the spectators along the display line at a height of approximately 200 ft before tracking to the north-west and climbing. The lead Hurricane climbed to approximately 1,100 ft above ground level (agl), pitched nose-up about 45 degrees and rolled to the left through 270 degrees, before pulling into a right turn to rejoin the display line. The second Hurricane, which was approximately 700 feet agl, pitched nose-up about 15 degrees, before rolling to the left. As it reached the inverted position, the roll stopped, the nose dropped and the aircraft entered a steep dive. It struck the ground, fatally injuring the pilot. The aircraft was destroyed by the ground impact and subsequent fire.

The pilot appeared to have attempted to follow the manoeuvre flown by the leading pilot. Although the airspeed was adequate, the aircraft had insufficient nose-up pitch attitude at the point of entry to ensure the safe execution of the manoeuvre in the height available. When the aircraft was inverted, the roll stopped, the nose dropped and insufficient height was available to recover from the dive.

The investigation identified the following causal factors:

1: The accident probably occurred as a result of the pilot attempting an unplanned rolling manoeuvre.
2: When the manoeuvre was commenced, the airspeed was adequate, but the nose-up pitch attitude was insufficient to enable the manoeuvre to be completed safely in the height available.
3: When the roll stopped in the inverted position, the aircraft's nose dropped rapidly and there was insufficient height available for the recovery manoeuvre the pilot attempted.

The AAIB made 6 recommendations.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: AAIB
Report number: EW/C2007/09/08
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

1. Airnieuws 454
2. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423034540f0b61346000c79/6-2009_G-HURR.pdf
3. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=HURR
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=110.0
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Hawker_Hurricanes#Lost

Media:

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
07-Mar-2009 07:07 harro Added
20-Oct-2009 11:38 harro Updated
22-Dec-2012 16:12 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
11-Mar-2016 08:36 Aerossurance Updated [Source, Narrative]
13-Sep-2016 22:02 Dr.John Smith Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Sep-2016 22:07 Dr.John Smith Updated [Source, Embed code]

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