Date:	Sunday 20 November 1994
Time:	16:16 LT
Type:	Cessna F182Q Skylane (Reims)
Owner/operator:	Hi-Travel Ltd
Registration:	G-LIGG
MSN:	0089
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Clapham Wood, High Salvington, Findon, West Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Amsterdam-Schipol Airport, Netherlands (AMS/EHAM)
Destination airport:	Shoreham Airport, Shoreham, West Sussex (EGKA)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
On the afternoon of 20 November 1994 Cessna 182 G-LIGG took off from Amsterdam Schipol Airport, with a pilot and two passengers on board, to fly to Shoreham Airfield. The Cessna crossed the English coast in the Dover region and headed west. This took it into cloud. It climbed from 1500 to 2500 feet but was still in cloud. So it climbed to 4500 feet but this did not take it out of cloud.

East of Mayfield the Cessna descended to 2500 feet but it remained in cloud. A little after 4:00 pm the pilot of the Cessna made first contact with Shoreham ATC, when he was about eight miles out from the airfield. He said that he was still in cloud and was flying not VFR (as per his flight plan) but IFR (he had an instrument rating but it was last renewed over four years earlier). Shoreham ATC advised him that visibility there was 2000 metres with drizzle, a 12 knot wind and broken cloud down to 400 feet. The pilot's response was that: "it doesn't sound too good" and "we're going back to Gatwick and when we get there we'll have a look and see what it's like".

The pilot contacted Gatwick and said of Shoreham: "I'm not even sure it's safe to come in on that but we'll wait till we get over the sea and then get down - see what we can see" and when asked to where he would divert, he said Biggin Hill or Southampton. He was told that the conditions at Biggin Hill were no better than at Shoreham but they were better at Southampton, to which he responded: "it looks as though it'll be Southampton but I'll just see what I can see at Shoreham first then I'll come back to you".

Nothing more was heard from the Cessna, which pursued a somewhat erratic course in cloud. Then it was seen at low level and in cloud over High Salvington, on the South Downs north of Worthing, where a witness saw a wing tip emerge from the cloud at tree top height. Almost immediately thereafter he heard the sound of a crash. The Cessna had flown into trees, at 440 feet above sea level, in Clapham Wood. These tore both wings away from the fuselage, which then continued to travel at speed for over 200 feet and, when it finally came to a halt, the rear fuselage had jack knifed over the cabin. Whilst the fuel tanks ruptured, there was no fire.

The pilot, Michael McGrath, and one passenger, Iris White, were killed by the impact. The other passenger, Barry Lamoon, survived the crash. Presumably he was pulled from the wreckage by the police (who had arrived on scene ten minutes after being called by the witness) and/or others. He suffered major head and body injuries necessitating 17 days in hospital, after which he had little recollection of what had happened

Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Aircraft destroyed". As a result, the registration G-LIGG was cancelled by the CAA on 24 February 1995 as aircraft "destroyed". G-LIGG was ex-G-THAM. First UK registered as G-THAM on 13 November 1978, and became G-LIGG from 2 August 1988

Shoreham Airport Sussex - The Story of Britain's Oldest Licensed Airfield.
Compiled by T M A Webb and Dennis L Bird.
Pub. Cirrus Associates, 1996
ISBN 0 9515598 2 6
page 85
British Civil Aircraft Register 1919 - 1999
Compiled by Michael Austen
Air Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1999
ISBN 0 85130 281 5
- Air Britain: British Civil Aircraft Registers 1919 to 1999 (published 1999)

1. http://www.findonvillage.com/1061_reims_cessna_crash_downland.htm
2. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f740e5274a1314000615/Reims_Cessna_F182Q_Skylane__G-LIGG_02-95.pdf
3. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-THAM.pdf
4. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-LIGG/919791
5. G-LIGG when G-THAM at Luton Airport (EGGW) in 1985: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1372269
6. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-THAM
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Salvington

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
23-Jan-2010 00:28	John Baker	Updated [Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
25-Sep-2011 02:37	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source]
12-Oct-2012 15:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
20-Nov-2014 14:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code, Narrative]
01-Jun-2016 18:28	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
19-Nov-2020 17:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report]