Date:	Wednesday 19 February 1975
Time:	09:32
Type:	Aero Commander 680E
Owner/operator:	Marconi-Elliott Avionics Systems
Registration:	G-ASHI
MSN:	680-658-255
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	M2 Motorway, ¼ mile south of Rochester City Airport, Medway, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Executive
Departure airport:	Rochester, Kent (EGTO)
Destination airport:	Woodford Aerodrome, Cheshire (EGCD)
Investigating agency:	AIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 19/2/1975 when crashed near the M2 Motorway, ¼ mile south of Rochester City Airport, Medway, Kent. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:

"Shortly after take-off from Rochester the left engine suffered an almost complete loss of power and its propeller was feathered. During an attempt to return to the aerodrome a loss of power occurred on the right engine and the aircraft made a forced-landing on the verge of the M2 motorway. The pilot and the three passengers were injured, and the aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair.

It is concluded that the accident was caused by kerosene being placed in a petrol supply at Rochester City Airport from which the aircraft was subsequently refuelled. The loss of power on both engines resulted from damage caused by their being run on contaminated fuel."

The incident was also reported in a number of contemporary newspapers:

"Aberdeen Evening Express - Wednesday 19 February 1975

A LIGHT aircraft crashed at the side of a motorway today but no one was seriously hurt.
The tail of the plane which had just taken off from Rochester, Kent, was reported be sticking out over part of the M2.
Motorists stopped to rescue the pilot and his three passengers, who were taken to hospital to be treated for shock."

"Belfast Telegraph - Wednesday 19 February 1975

Motorists in plane rescue
Motorists on the M2 near Rochester, Kent, today launched a rescue operation when a light aircraft crashed into woods at the edge of the highway on an approach run to Rochester Airport. An RAC patrol who was there said "The tail of the aircraft was sticking out over the motorway. A lot of people driving along the motorway stopped at the scene of the accident to rescue the pilot."

"Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 19 February 1975
Drivers rescue crash pilot
A LIGHT aircraft crashed at the side of the M2 motorway near Rochester, Kent, today but no one was seriously hurt. Motorists stopped to rescue the pilot, Eric Taylor, and his three passengers, who were taken to hospital to be treated for shock."

"CHATHAM Standard
TUESDAY, 4 MARCH, 1975
Mystery of kerosene in petrol tank
CRASH PLANE FUEL PUZZLE

THE WRONG fuel was pumped into the tanks of a light aircraft which crash-landed and caught fire among trees beside the M2 motorway at Chatham two weeks ago.

This has been revealed in a preliminary bulletin from the accidents investigation branch of the Department of Trade.
A spokesman for the department said yesterday: "Our inspectors have established that the plane, which was re-fuelled at Rochester airport, had a mixture of kerosene and petrol in its tanks. The mixture caused the port engine to fail. Kerosene is used in some jet aircraft and for heating and lighting.

“The crashed plane — a twin-engined Aero Commander belonging to Elliotts — needs a high-octane petrol. We assume the kerosene was put in the airport's petrol tank by mistake. “Our inspectors are still investigating how and why it got there — along with all other details about the crash. We expect them to make their full report in the next couple of weeks.”

A spokesman for Rochester airport said kerosene was normally not delivered there.

The plane crashed just after 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday 19 February. It had just taken off from Rochester airport to take three businessmen to Manchester for the Rochester firm Marconi-Elliott.

The aircraft started losing height soon after take-off when the port engine failed. It ran parallel with the motorway for a quarter-of-a-mile and it is believed the pilot tried to land on the motorway but traffic was too heavy.

SHATTERED
Instead, he belly-flopped on a tree-lined bank near the motorway's verge at Bridgewood and the plane ended up facing in the opposite direction.

Two passing motorists stopped and smashed open the cockpit to rescue the four men inside while another driver doused the flames with damp grass before firemen and police arrived.

The pilot, Mr. Eric Taylor of High view Drive, Chatham, and his three passengers escaped serious injury. Mr. Taylor and two of his passengers — Mr. John Keeble of Fair Tree Grove, Bredhurst, and Mr. Kenneth Venison of Snodhurst Avenue, Chatham — were discharged after treatment at Medway Accident Centre.

Mr. Steven Duxbury of Green-way, Chatham, was admitted to the hospital with back injuries. A spokesman for the hospital said yesterday that Mr. Duxbury was making satisfactory progress."

The pilot and two of the three passengers were slightly injured; one of the passengers was seriously injured. The AAIB report confirms that the aircraft was "damaged beyond economic repair", and the registration G-ASHI was cancelled by the CAA 25/3/75 as aircraft "destroyed". Some of the wreckage (the fuselage) was still to be seen dumped in a hangar at Rochester on 4/3/1976

1. Aberdeen Evening Express - Wednesday 19 February 1975
2. Belfast Telegraph - Wednesday 19 February 1975
3. Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 19 February 1975
4. Chatham Standard - Tuesday 4 March 1975
5. Daily Mirror - Thursday 20 February 1975
6. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422f08e40f0b61346000345/5-1976_G-ASHI.pdf
7. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ASHI.pdf
8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/covehithe/26711407790/in/photolist-GGoWVC-dESwif-dC6n3z-9zKEFL (photo of wreckage dated 4/3/76)
9. https://rochesteravionicarchives.co.uk/media-archive/newspapers/1975-03-chatham-standard
11. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-rockwell-grand-commander-680-rochester
12. https://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/2019-04/G-ASHI.pdf
13. G-ASHI at Rochester 17/4/1973: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1218551
14. G-ASHI at Staverton 16/10/1972: https://www.flickr.com/photos/egbj/8284721425/
15. G-ASHI at London Heathrow 8/12/1967: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/28140/G-ASHI
14. G-ASHI at London Gatwick (LGW/EGKK) on 25/1/1964: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1440240
15. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
08-Aug-2012 15:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Jun-2013 10:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]
26-Jul-2015 16:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport]
20-Oct-2015 19:02	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
22-Jul-2020 19:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
22-Jul-2020 19:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
22-Jul-2020 19:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
09-Jul-2022 23:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Category]