ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 154515
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| Date: | Saturday 22 November 2003 |
| Time: | 14:08 |
| Type: |  Westland Gazelle HT3 |
| Owner/operator: | Armstrong Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | G-CBZL |
| MSN: | 2010 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1984 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Byeloch Farm, near Mouswald, south-east of Dumfries, Scotland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Dalbeattie |
| Mouswald, SE of Dumfries, Scotland | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter was substantially damaged when it struck powerlines and crashed while attempting to land in a field at Byeloch Farm, near Mouswald, south-east of Dumfries. The accident happened in daylight (14:08 hours Local time) and in VMC. Wind, light and variable. The pilot was flying from his home at Dalbeattie, via a re-fuelling stop at Carlisle, to meet friends at Mouswald. Contemporary press reports (see links #3 and #4) named the pilot as "Former rally driver Murray Grierson, aged 54...Mr Grierson is a former Scottish Rally champion, winning the title in 1987 and 1993".
The pilot had not previously flown into the planned landing site and therefore, on arrival, circled the area to check for obstacles. During this he noted a line of electricity poles running northwest to southwest, parallel to a main road. With these cables in sight he began an approach towards the southeast, to the right of the cables. However, just before landing, as he commenced the transition to the hover, he suddenly saw cables directly ahead.
According to press reports, the pilot later commented that 'there are a lot of wires in that field but, because of the low winter sun, I didn't see them until the last minute.' The cable the helicopter hit was a single span spur to an engineering workshop located to the left of its approach path
Nature of Damage to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Major damage to G-CBZL and damage to electrical cables".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423016de5274a1314000aa3/dft_avsafety_pdf_027264.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=CBZL
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3229472.stm
4. https://www.scotsman.com/news/rally-champion-walks-away-from-helicopter-crash-1-1296454
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Mar-2013 10:21 | TB | Added |
| 27-Mar-2013 18:38 | TB | Updated [Damage] |
| 30-Jul-2016 00:29 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Jul-2016 00:30 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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