Date:	Tuesday 26 January 1982
Time:	13:00 LT
Type:	Cessna 175B Skylark
Owner/operator:	Richard Anthony Spiller (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-ARRH
MSN:	175-57000
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Horse Sands Fort, The Solent, off Portsmouth/Southsea, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	Sandown, Isle of Wight (EGHN)
Destination airport:	Goodwood, West Sussex (EGHR)
Investigating agency:	AIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Cessna 175B Skylark G-ARRH: Written off when ditched into the Solent off Portsmouth/Southsea, Hampshire on 26 January 1982 due to engine failure. According to reports, the Cessna ditched into the Solent near to the Horse Sand Fort, at approximate Coordinates :50°45′0.0″N 1°4′21.17″W

The pilot (the sole person on board) was rescued by a Royal Navy SAR Helicopter from Lee-on-Solent 22 minutes after ditching. The wreckage was recovered and examined, but no cause of the engine failure was found. Carburettor icing and water in the fuel were suspected (the aircraft had been parked outdoors over the winter of 1981-82) but this could not be conclusively proved.

A local newspaper recalled in 2017 further details of the incident ("The Portsmouth News" Saturday 28 January 2017 - see link #6):

"THIS WEEK IN 1982:
Pilot rescued after his light aircraft hit the Solent
Former flying instructor Roger Haldenby, 33, was plucked from the chilling waters about 20 minutes after the plane – a Cessna – sank nose-down to the seabed.

Recovering at the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, Gosport, from the shock and exposure after his ordeal, Mr Haldenby, of Buckland Gardens, Ryde, added:

‘Another five or six minutes and it could have been a different story. I spent nearly half-an-hour in the water. My hands were numb and I could not feel my legs below the knees. I was worried that no one had seen me come down, and I am lucky to be alive. The helicopter crew from Lee-on-Solent did a fantastic job and I am deeply grateful.’

Mr Haldenby was flying the Cessna from Sandown to Goodwood for its owner for an annual check – he said – when it developed engine trouble after half-a-mile off Southsea just after 1pm. The engine ran roughly for a few seconds, then suddenly quit. The Isle of Wight pilot rescued from the Solent after his light aircraft crashed and sank off Southsea said: '˜I am lucky to be alive.'

Registration G-ARRH cancelled as "destroyed" 30 May 1984. It was first UK registered on 5 October 1961, and at the time of the above accident, was with its 10th owner from new. It was originally US registered as N8300T. As can be seen from the photograph below, the remains were finally dumped at Little Staughton airfield in Bedfordshire (seen there 17 August 2002 - see link #7)

1. Air Britain: British Civil Aircraft Registers 1919 to 1999 (published 1999)
2. AAIB: http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Cessna%20175%20B,%20G-ARRH%2003-82.pdf
3. CAA History of G-ARRH 1961-1966: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARRH-1.pdf
4. CAA History of G-ARRH 1966-1982: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARRH-2.pdf
5. G-ARRH at Biggin Hill (EGKB) on 15 May 1965: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1051679/
6. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/week-1982-pilot-rescued-after-his-light-aircraft-hit-solent-1158374
7. G-ARRH Cessna 175B. A sad end for this classic Cessna, dumped in the bushes at Little Staughton. Photographed 17 August 2002: https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000285483.html
8. G-ARRH seen on a regular basis at Sandown Isle of Wight late 1970's: https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001248988.html
9. G-ARRH at Biggin Hill in 1967: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1342478
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Sand_Fort
11. https://www.english-for-flyaways.de/displayimage.php?pid=3732
12. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Jun-2013 11:58	Uli Elch	Added
16-Jun-2013 12:35	Uli Elch	Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Narrative]
18-Jun-2013 09:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
05-Nov-2014 23:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
14-Jan-2019 19:46	“Lister”	Updated [Location]
17-Nov-2020 19:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Nature, Source, Narrative, Accident report]
17-Nov-2020 20:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
17-Nov-2020 20:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
17-Nov-2020 20:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
24-Dec-2021 11:27	harro	Updated [[Source]]