ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 187879
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| Date: | Saturday 29 April 1995 |
| Time: | 13:26 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II |
| Owner/operator: | Andrews Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BOZT |
| MSN: | 28-7790400 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Aircraft missing |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | North Sea, 30 nm east of Clacton, Essex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Derby Airfield, Egginton, Derbyshre (EGBD) |
| Moorsele Airfield, Wevelgem, Belgium (EBMO) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (presumed destroyed) 29-4-1995 when ditched into the North Sea, 30 nautical miles east of Clacton, Essex. Aircraft sank and was not recovered. The pilot (the sole person on board) was killed; his body was found and recovered. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"At 13:19 hours the pilot transmitted 'MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY THIS IS G-BOZT WITH ENGINE FAILURE'. the London Information Controller does not provide aircraft with a radar service, so he therefore asked the pilot for the aircraft's position. The pilot replied 'I'M ON THE 100 DEGREE RADIAL FROM CLACTON. I DON'T HAVE DME BUT I ESTIMATE ABOUT 25 DME...I'VE TURNED BACK TO THE COAST TOWARDS CLACTON'. The controller told the pilot to set code 7700 on his transponder, and contact London Military on the International Distress Frequency of 121.5 MHz. No reply was received from the pilot. The controller called four more times, without any further replies.
At 13:25 hours, the pilot of a Boeing 737, operating a scheduled airline service from Munich to Birmingham, also tried to contact the pilot, and get him to change frequency to 121.5 MHz. Their attempt to contact the pilot was eventually successful, but the pilot replied that he 'DID NOT HAVE THE TIME AS THE WATER IS GETTING CLOSER'. The pilot did say, however, that he had a radio distress beacon on board. The airline pilot replied that rescue helicopters had been notified and were on their way. Moments later, the Boeing 737 crew, who had been monitoring transmission, received a brief transmission from the aircraft's distress beacon.
At 13:48, a private pilot in Grumman AA-5 G-BEZH was asked to search for the location of a reported 'white object' in the sea, which was believed to be Piper G-BOZT. The pilot of G-BEZH remained in the area of G-BOZT's last reported position for about 40 minutes, acting as a relay between the London Controller and the Search and Rescue Helicopter from RAF Wattisham. G-BEZH had to leave the area at 14:28, returning to Southend to refuel. The RAF Wattisham SAR helicopter remained in the area until 16:30, when it too, had to returned to base to refuel.
After refuelling, the search resumed, and was ended for the day at 19:35 hours due to failing light. The search was resumed at 06:55 the next day (April 30) and the body of the pilot was found floating in the water, face up, at 08:25 hours, wearing a fully inflated life jacket. He was recovered and flown ashore."
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Aircraft missing". No wreckage was ever found, and it is presumed that the aircraft sank into the North Sea, and was not recovered. As a result, the registration G-BOST was cancelled by the CAA on 25-8-1995 as owners "Addressee Status: Gone Away"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422f981ed915d1374000753/Piper_PA-28-181_Cherokee_Archer_II__G-BOZT_09-95.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BOZT
3. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BOZT.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Jun-2016 18:17 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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