ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 184204
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| Date: | Saturday 23 July 1994 |
| Time: | 13:14 |
| Type: |  Grob G-102 |
| Owner/operator: | Defence Research Agency Gliding Club |
| Registration: | BGA 2450 |
| MSN: | 2194 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1 nm SW of Farnborough, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Farnborough Aerodrome (FAB/EGLF) |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On Saturday 23 July 1994 the ATC at Farnborough Airfield was not manned, and the airfield controller was away from the tower, because the airfield was being used solely for gliding. One such glider was Grob G-102 Astir BGA 2450, which had taken an aerotow to 1800 feet before releasing and starting its search for lift. Finding none, it turned back toward the airfield but en route it encountered a thermal, which it entered and started to circle to starboard. It had reached about 2000 feet when the pilot saw, over his left shoulder, a Cessna turning to starboard, banked and at very close proximity. Before evading action could be taken, the Astir collided with the Cessna, a 152, G-BGXZ.
The port wing of the Cessna hit the tail of the Grob, almost detaching the latter, with the result that the glider lost pitch control. Rather than trying to recover this - although he would have realised, had he looked behind him, that such would have been impossible - the glider pilot jettisoned the canopy, baled out, deployed his parachute and landed in trees, on the airfield, suffering only a bruised ankle and shock. In the meantime the abandoned glider stalled and spun in, crashing to ground near the glider launch site. It was destroyed in the crash.
The pilot of the Cessna, a student under instruction, was on a training flight out of Blackbushe Airfield. He first saw the Grob and sought to avoid it by turning to starboard. Shortly thereafter the instructor saw it and, taking control from the student, banked harder to port. But this was in vain and, as mentioned above, the two aircraft collided. The collision caused the Cessna to yaw violently and lose airspeed. However the instructor regained control of the Cessna and, realising that he could fly it straight and level, set a course back to Blackbushe, where he was able to make a landing without flaps or further incident. Neither the instructor nor the student were injured but the Cessna suffered major damage to the outboard port wing. The collision pushed that wing back, buckling the upper surface of its trailing edge, crushing the outboard front spar and distorting the outboard end of its aileron.
The AAIB report does not attribute blame for the collision. However it refers to the Rules of the Air Regulations 1991 and notes that aircraft operating within the Farnborough ATZ (aerodrome traffic zone) are required:
(1) to have permission of its ATC (air traffic control), FIU (flight information unit) or A/GRS (air/ground radio station, which was in operation that day for the purpose of the on site gliding activities) and that in the ATZ their pilots should
(2) maintain a radio watch and radio communication to keep the ATC, FIU or A/GRS informed of their activities in that. There is no mention in the AAIB report of the crew of the Cessna doing either but presumably the Grob had, at least, the former. It is a matter of speculation whether, had the pilot of the Cessna sought it, permission to enter the ATZ would have been given to him and, assuming that it was, whether the maintenance by him and/or the pilot of the Grob of a radio watch and/or communication would have resulted in the collision being avoided.
The Astir BGA 2450 was destroyed: Cessna FA152 G-BGXZ was repaired, rebuilt, and returned to service, albeit with a new registration G-ZOOL. (The only damage sustained by the Cessna was 'substantial' damage to the left wingtip). According to an eyewitness report:
"I was tower controller at Farnborough that day. The last bizjet movement of the day had departed carrying Diana, Princess of Wales (much to the annoyance of the paparazzi who, apart from one, had gone to Northolt) and I had handed jurisdiction of the circuit to the RAE Gliding Club when they called on the radio and said one of their gliders had broken up in mid air and the pilot had parachuted out. I alerted the Fire and Ambulance crews and it wasn't until the Ambulance got the pilot on board and were taking him to the medical centre that he apparently began to get 'hysterical' saying 'that light aircraft knocked my tail off'.
I asked the gliding club if they'd seen a powered aircraft and they said they saw a C152 turn overhead towards Blackbushe at about that time. A quick phone call to Jamie revealed G-BGXZ had landed with a damaged wingtip (never knew how damaged it was) so I told him what had apparently happened. A short while later, Vic Hargreaves phoned up to give his side of the story."
Additional: According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Aberdeen Press and Journal" - Monday 25 July 1994) which names the pilot of the Grob Astir glider:
"Pilot bales out
A GLIDER pilot escaped with shock and a sprained ankle when he baled out after a mid-air collision on Saturday.
A Cessna 152 light aircraft, being flown by a student accompanied by an instructor collided with a solo glider at 2,000 ft over Hampshire.
Glider pilot Brian Matthews (27), of Egham, Surrey, parachuted to safety".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Monday 25 July 1994.
2. AAIB: https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/reims-cessna-fa152-aerobat-g-bgxz-and-grob-astir-glider-bga-2450-23-july-1994
3. http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
4. http://blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/3827
5. http://blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/3829
6. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18365.0;wap2
7. https://alles-mit-links.ch/Wordpress/?page_id=394&kennzeichenland=BGA
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnborough_Airport
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Feb-2016 00:35 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 04-Feb-2016 00:38 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 28-May-2016 19:44 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Date, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-May-2016 19:52 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Sep-2022 09:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 12-Sep-2022 09:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Source, Narrative] |
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