Date:	Sunday 5 November 1978
Time:	11:56
Type:	de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	James R Wardrop
Registration:	N90406
MSN:	86553
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Hampton Court Shopping Center Car Park, North Hampton, NH -   United States of America
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport, Sanford, Maine (SFM/KSFM)
Destination airport:	Hampton Airport, North Hampton, New Hamphire (7B3)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 86553; Taken on charge by the RAF as PG644, notionally at 15 MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 19.4.44. However, placed into long-term stroage locally in ‘purgatory’ in the Oxfordshire area; returned to Morris Motors, Cowley, Oxford for erection [undated, but probably July 1945]. To 8 MU RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire 26.7.45. To 16 Ferry Unit, RAF Dunkeswell, Devon 17.1.46 and ferried to the French Air Force 8.3.46; arrived Romorantin 11.4.46.

Inspected at Orange 4.5.51 and French civil registered as F-BGDG (C of R 21717) 18.5.51 to Aero Club d'Orange, St Cyr. To unknown party at Avignon in 1953. Registration F-BGDG cancelled in October 1957. Rebuilt at Beynes and registration restored in November 1960. Re-registered 25.5.67 to Aero Club d'Haguenau, Haguenau. Registration F-BGDG cancelled 8.7.71 as "sold in the United States"

Sold 6.9.71 by Jan J Den Hollander, Chelles-les-Coudreaux to Geert E Frank, New Hampshire, USA and delivered ex-France 15.10.71. US Registere as N90406 12.10.71 to Geert E Frank, East Kingston, New Hampshire. (With MSN of "PG644" - the former RAF serial number - instead of the official DeHavilland MSN 86553) CofA issued 20.4.72. Sold (loaned?) in June 1972 (but not re-registered) to Brian Knock, Plum Island, Massachusetts; flown by him across USA to Santa Paula, California. Sold 11.10.72 and re-registered 9.1.73 to James R Wardrop, Sewickley, Philadelphia.

Badly damaged in crash at Cogan Station, Philadelphia 24.7.73: There were no fatalities. Incident occurred at 08:45 hours. The damage was substantial. The flight departed from Mars, PA, with the destination Williamsport, PA. The engine failed or malfunctioned while cruising. Stalled or mushed while on final approach to land. There was complete power loss in the failure of one engine. The emergency circumstances included; forced off-airport landing on land...

Rebuilt and returned to service. Crashed into Hampton Court Shopping Center Car Park, 69 Lafayette Road, North Hampton, New Hampshire, USA. There was one fatality. Incident occurred at 11:56 hours. The damage was substantial. Incident occurred at the Hampton Airport, North Hampton, New Hampshire. The flight departed from Sanford, Maine, with the destination Hampton, New Hampshire. The engine failed or malfunctioned during the approach. Aircraft Stalled and/or spiralled into the ground while on final approach to land. There was a partial power loss with the failure of one engine; Barker Wardrop (passenger) killed & James Wardrop (pilot/owner) badly injured.

Wreckage sold 5.12.78 (back) to Geert E Frank, East Kingston, New Hampshire; (retrospective bill of sale dated 14.1.83). Sold (but not re-registered) 23.2.79 to William E King, Valley Cottage, New York. Registration N90406 cancelled by the FAA on 17.12.81 as destroyed.

Remains sold 15.10.82 to Cliff Lovell/Hampshire Light Plane Services Ltd, Walkeridge Farm, UK as wreck (duplicate bill of sale dated 4.2.83). Registration N90406 cancelled 6.5.83 as "sold to UK". UK civil registered as G-AHAN 31.5.85 to Susan Elizabeth Bates, Sandy, Bedfordshire (aircraft based Little Gransden). Rebuilt by Len Jefferies, Little Gransden and CofA issued 13.1.86.

(G-AHAN is an "in period" registration for late January/early February 1946 that was never presiously issued. As a context, the registration before - G-AHAM - was issued 31.1.46, and the registration after - G-AHAO was issued 7.2.46. Both were issued to Auster Vs)

Registered 9.7.86 to Geraint Lloyd Owens, Knapwell, Cambridge (aircraft based at Little Gransden). Re-registered 18.9.89 to Anthony Joseph Clarry & Shirley Frances Bancroft, Reading, Berkshire (aircraft based at Redhill, Surrey). Re-registered 13.4.94 to Interflight (Air Charter) Ltd (Terence John Rawlins & Simon Peter Masey), Gatwick Airport, Horely, Surrey (aircraft remained based at Redhill).

Re-registered 4.12.95 to Tiger Associates Ltd, Kidlington (Mike Dalton & James Black, t/a Avia Special), (based Little Gransden. Later operated (in 2001) by Andy Annable & Nick Pittaway, White Waltham; to Bicester, Oxfordshire 2006. C of A replaced by Permit to Fly 3.8.2012. Re-registered 6.12.2017 to Jeremy James Kershaw, trustee of the assets of the G-AHAN Flying Group, Bicester, Oxfordshire. Currently registered and airworthy.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-PZ999 (James J. Halley Air Britain)
2. France National Archives File B 2961: https://francearchives.fr/fr/facomponent/64c900866c83151c4c612ab9694c2a0bbf50d3ac
3. https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=90406
4. 24.7.1973 crash: NTSB Identification: NYC74FGT02 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/15/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=86016
5. 5.11.1978 crash: NTSB Identification: NYC79FNC09 at https://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/brief.aspx?ev_id=39393&key=0
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AHAN.pdf
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p865.html
9. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-AHAN/819363
10. http://tagazous.free.fr/affichage2.php?img=59912
11. http://hamptonairfield.com/

Tiger Moth G-AHAN with the 'Tiger Nine' flying display team, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire 18.4.2009:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Feb-2008 12:00	ASN archive	Added
08-Jan-2022 00:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
08-Jan-2022 19:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]