ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 89958
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| Date: | Wednesday 13 December 2000 |
| Time: | 09:13 |
| Type: |  Cessna 152 |
| Owner/operator: | Fraggle Leasing Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BHPX |
| MSN: | 152-82994 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-235-L2C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Liathach, Torridon, Wester Ross, Highlands -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Inverness/Dalcross Airport (EGPE) |
| Benbecula, Outer Hebrides (EGPL) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The bodies of two businessmen were recovered from the wreckage of their light aircraft in the West Highlands more than two months after it went missing. The Cessna 152 left Inverness airport for the Outer Hebrides on December 13 2000. The aircraft took off at 08'56 hours and departed to the west of the airfield
However, there was no trace of the aircraft until last Thursday, February 20 2001, when a hill walker found a life raft close to the summit of 3,456ft Liathach in the Torridon mountains of Wester Ross.
Robert MacLean, 37, and Euan Spalding, his partner, of Ross-shire Engineering in Muir of Ord, Easter Ross, had set off on a business trip to Benbecula, in poor weather conditions. A major search was launched after they became overdue on the planned two-hour flight.
Hunts involving several mountain rescue teams, helicopters, sniffer dogs and their handlers, and dozens of volunteers were all unsuccessful. Several mountain rescue teams re-scheduled exercises over the past two months to search beneath the believed flight path in a bid to find the crash scene. Two specialist intelligence-gathering RAF Tornado jets, with heat-seeking and sophisticated photographic equipment on board, were also deployed shortly after the businessmen were reported missing but failed to find anything.
Most of the searches had been conducted much further east, where there had been reports of a light aircraft circling within a few hours of the take-off. Liathach rises almost sheer from the head of Little Loch Torridon and if the Cessna had managed to clear it, the fliers could possibly have descended to sea level to get clear of any icing problems.
The volunteers from Torridon were assisted yesterday [25/2/2001] by airmen from RAF Kinloss in the search of the wreckage. The bodies were taken off the mountain by Stornoway coastguard helicopter then driven to the police mortuary in Inverness.
NOTE: The time of "09:13am" is not the time of the crash. Per the AAIB accident report, 09:13 on 13/12/2000 was the last recorded radio contact by G-BHPX: "At 09:13 hours the pilot reported that he was "abeam Dingwall at 3,500 feet" whereupon ATC advised him to change frequency to Scottish Flight Information Service. Eyewitnesses reported seeing an aircraft meeting the Cessna's description flying over the pilot's place of work in Muir of Ord and later circling above a cloud layer about three miles to the south of Garve. At approximately 11:30 hours a representative of the company due to host the pilot in Benbecula telephoned the pilot's place of work to advise them that the aircraft had not arrived".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423010ce5274a1314000a73/dft_avsafety_pdf_501087.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BHPX
3. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Climb/161158577231096?sk=info
4. https://www.pprune.org/private-flying/42883-search-missing-cessna.html
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1069318.stm
6. http://www.walkscotland.com/newarchive7.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Feb-2011 14:20 | harro | Added |
| 10-Oct-2012 21:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Feb-2015 13:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 13-Jul-2016 09:37 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Jul-2016 09:42 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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