ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 183639
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| Date: | Saturday 10 September 1988 |
| Time: | 11:30 |
| Type: |  Robinson R-22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | Crisp Broadcasting Ltd |
| Registration: | G-SMIF |
| MSN: | 0772 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Prescott, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Wycombe Air Park, Booker (EGTB) |
| Prescott, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 10/9/1988 when crashed at Prescott, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The pilot was the noted TV presenter and broadcaster, Mike Smith (1955-2014). Smith was a qualified helicopter pilot. He and his girlfriend (later his wife) Sarah Greene were injured on 10 September 1988 when the Robinson R22 Beta helicopter he was piloting (bearing the personal registration G-SMIF) crashed in Gloucestershire. Smith reported apparent unrecoverable loss of engine power whilst circling to reconnoitre an unfamiliar landing site. Maggie McMillan - whose husband helped pull the couple from the wreckage - said the accident happened very quickly.
"We were watching it arrive - the plane circled and the next moment it fell and we heard a crash. My husband and Mr Bock helped to take Sarah and Mike from the actual aircraft - but they were conscious," she said. The two BBC presenters had been on their way to visit friends near Cheltenham. Both passengers survived, although Greene broke both legs and an arm, and Smith suffered a broken back and ankle
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch neither criticised nor exonerated Smith in relation to the crash (it being beyond its remit to do so), concluding simply that "...examination of the helicopter [including flight control, fuel, engine control, dynamic systems and the engine itself] revealed no failure or unserviceability that could have resulted in a loss of rotor speed".
Both the presenters were in hospital for about four weeks after the accident, but Sarah Greene went back to presenting the Saturday morning children's show Going Live before she was out of plaster. The couple became engaged soon after the crash and were married a year later. Mike Smith was cleared of blame after the investigation and continued to fly.
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "aircraft destroyed". As a result, the registration G-SMIF was cancelled by the CAA, six months later, on 7/3/1989, as "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422fbc640f0b613460008ff/Robinson_R22_Beta__G-SMIF_01-89.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=SMIF
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Smith_(broadcaster)#Pilot
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/10/newsid_2504000/2504243.stm
5. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/r22_0501-1000_29.html
6. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=14565
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Jan-2016 14:31 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 21-Jan-2016 14:47 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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