Date:	Monday 15 April 1963
Time:	day
Type:	Auster J/1 Autocrat
Owner/operator:	Air Touring Club
Registration:	G-AHHS
MSN:	2021
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, off Berck-sur-Mer, Pas De Calais -   France
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Rouen Airport, Rouen, France (URO/LFOP)
Destination airport:	Biggin Hill, Kent (BQH/EGKB)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Crashed into sea 15 April 1963 while on return to Biggin Hill from a club outing to Berck-sur-Mer, Pas De Calais, in Northern France, with two other aircraft. Husband and wife perished on board the Auster. 1 survivor, 2 aircraft (including Druine Turbulent G-APBZ) landed on a nearby beach, possibly to assist, but aircraft was a write off, and the pilot injured

Per a contemporary report in "Flight" magazine, 16 April 1964:

"Berck Accident Report: The official French report on the accidents to Auster 5 G-AHHS and Turbulent G-APBZ at Berck-sur-Mer on April 15,1963, has now been published by the Ministry of Aviation.

Operated by the Air Touring Club, the aircraft were flying in formation with a third machine from Rouen to Berck-sur-Mer when they encountered thick fog. When the aircraft arrived off Berck, G-AHHS made a turn at low altitude and crashed into the sea; G-APBZ was severely damaged on attempting a landing on the sand dunes; and the third aircraft, the only one of the three to carry radio equipment, landed normally at Le Treport aerodrome.

The pilot of the Auster, Mr C. A. Brackpool, and his wife were drowned; Mr Brackpool's other passenger, Mr A. W. Downs, and the pilot of the Turbulent, Mr J. Murphy, were injured.

The report states that the meteorological forecast for the route, given by telephone to Mr Brackpool and Mr Tyrrell, the pilot of the third aircraft, "apparently was not understood correctly."

The British pilots did not speak French and the meteorological officer did not speak English. "The conditions in which G-AHHS was flying," the report concludes, "—a turn at very low altitude over the sea, in mist and drizzle, with no horizon —explain how even a relatively experienced pilot would have struck the water. Such conditions would also lead to an accident in the case of a pilot with less than 200 hours' flight time who was attempting an emergency landing on unsuitable ground after approaching low over the hospital buildings.

"There seems no doubt that the imprudent decision to depart from Rouen (perhaps excusable in view of the language difficulties), then the decision to continue to Berck in spite of the clear deterioration observed in the weather conditions (and in infringement of the regulations) were the underlying causes of these accidents"

Registration G-AHHS cancelled by the UK Civil Aviation Authority as "destroyed" 17 May 1963

1. CAA: History of G-AHHS 1946-1958: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AHHS-1.pdf
2. CAA: History of G-AHHS 1958-1963: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AHHS-2.pdf
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 101/57: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5070067 [French investigation: includes French report and English translation]
4. G-AHHS at Biggin Hill (EGKB) 1959: https://www.airhistory.net/photo/115214/G-AHHS
5. G-AHHS at Biggin Hill (EGKB) 1963: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1519945
6. G-AHHS at Biggin Hill (EGKB) 1961: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1099021
7. https://www.key.aero/comment/999912#comment-999912
8. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/xchbook/xchpart3-061019.pdf [p.#335]
9. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=1909
10. http://www.johnwillis.co.uk/theclub/november2012.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
15-Mar-2009 11:19	Keith	Updated
04-Jun-2012 15:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Jun-2012 15:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]
04-Mar-2014 03:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
26-Nov-2020 23:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]