ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 174667
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| Date: | Tuesday 31 March 1998 |
| Time: | 14:02 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-30-160 Twin Comanche C |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-BAWN |
| MSN: | 30-1948 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Kexby, West Lindsay, 2 miles SE of Sturgate, Lincolnshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Sturgate Airfield, Lincolnshire (EGCS) |
| Sturgate Airfield, Lincolnshire (EGCS) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 31 March 1998 when made a wheels up forced landing near Kexby, West Lindsay, two miles south east of Sturgate, Lincolnshire. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The aircraft had just received a 'Star Annual' Inspection, during which time a persistent defect on the fuel quantity gauging system had been rectified. The aircraft was air-tested by the Chief Engineer of the maintenance organisation, for the purpose of renewal of the Certificate of Airworthiness but also to check operation of the gauging system and it is reported that there were no abnormalities noted. A further two test flights were carried out, primarily to check for proper function of the fuel gauging system. Again, no handling problems were noted.
The aircraft was collected by its owner four days later and he took off to return to his base at Granston. During the flight, he noticed a slight tremor on the control yoke when light pressure was exerted on it. Although he was not by any means alarmed, he decided to return to Sturgate to have it checked. A conversation with the Chief Engineer suggested that the vibration might have been engine-related and due to a magneto drop.
The engine was run and it was decided that they would take off for a test flight to see if the problem had been cleared. This was done and, at 1,500 feet in the cruise, they were able to reproduce the tremor, which appeared to be speed-related. The Chief Engineer was unhappy with the situation and decided that they should immediately to return to Sturgate.
However, whilst still some 2 miles to the North of Runway 27/09, the tremor abruptly changed to a violent vibration - so severe that the pilots felt that control was almost impossible and two pairs of hands were required on the yoke to prevent the oscillations in pitch becoming intolerable. To have landed on the runway would have necessitated a right turn through about 120 degrees, which the pilots did not feel they had enough control to achieve even though reducing airspeed appeared to slightly improve the situation. Instead they continued on a heading of 150 degrees, descending for a forced landing in fields 2-2.5 miles South-east of the runway.
A wheels-up, engines-off landing was made in a field of winter wheat. Although the landing was carried out without severe difficulty and the pilots evacuated the aircraft normally, the aircraft sustained sufficient damage to render it beyond economic repair, principally due to fracture of both wing spars".
The AAIB report confirms that the aircraft was "beyond economic repair". As a result, the registration G-BAWN was cancelled by the CAA on 23 June 1998 as "Permanently withdrawn from use". The wreckage was reported in January 2014 as being one of a number of Piper "twins" in long term storage as "spares hulks" at the New Road Business Park, Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/piper-pa-30-g-bawn-31-march-1998-at-1402-hrs
2. CAA: http://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/
3. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/derek.blake87/leics.htm
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulkelseyphotography/15661995002/in/photolist-pRZPsA-bqqY5t-382siH-jSfxAN
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Mar-2015 21:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-Mar-2015 01:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Mar-2015 01:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-Apr-2017 22:03 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Source] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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