ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 18814
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| Date: | Friday 3 October 1986 |
| Time: | 14:46 |
| Type: | Gardan GY-30 Supercab |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-BHLZ |
| MSN: | 02 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Dines Farm, Near Bethersden, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Headcorn, Kent (EGKH) |
| Headcorn, Kent (EGKH) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Ex-F-BBIP; to G-BHLZ on 18/4/1980. At Cranfield Aerodrome on 2 October 1986 the pilot of Gardan Supercab G-BHLZ put 32 litres of aviation fuel into its tank. As some of the fuel spilled from the filler pipe neck, he presumed that the tank was full - its capacity being 63 litres, enough for three hours flying time. His purpose of so doing was to enable him to fly to Headcorn Airfield, to which the Supercab was being relocated. However due to adverse weather, he did not make that flight as planned that day. Instead he flew local circuits for 15 minutes.
The next day, 3 October 1986, the weather was better. Thus the pilot took off from Cranfield in the Supercab and flew to Headcorn. The flight was uneventful and took just under 2 hours. About 50 minutes after its arrival there, without refuelling the pilot took off with a passenger to make a short local flight. Ten minutes later, whilst at about 2000 feet, the engine of the Minicab stopped. It turned to port and started to descend in a left hand spiral. The pilot managed to straighten the aeroplane but almost immediately thereafter it went into a steep dive, out of which it went back into a spiral from which it did not recover before crashing into a field at Dines Farm, near Bethersden, killing both the pilot and his passenger.
When, after the accident, the wreckage of the Supercab was examined, it was found that before its crash the aeroplane had not suffered any structural failure, its flying systems were functional and its engine was had not stopped due to any defect. It was also discovered that at the time of impact the engine was not running, the propeller had not been turning and there was no fuel in the tank or the pipes supplying the engine from it. But if its tank had been filled at Cranfield, there should, at the time its engine stopped, have been fuel enough for another 35 minutes flying time. What the examination further revealed was that brass filler cap had not been screwed onto the filler pipe neck and that at some time it had been cross threaded. Thus whilst the AAIB did not arrive at any conclusion as to why the Supercab crashed, it is hard not to deduce that either the filler cap had not been screwed on at Cranfield or it had worked loose in flight, with the result that the Supercab had suffered fuel loss in flight - such that rather than there having been sufficient fuel for three hours flying time, what remained in the tank was only sufficient for about 2 hours and 35 minutes. However the reason why the pilot of the Supercab was unable to control the aeroplane when not under power and failed to make a forced landing will remain a mystery which he and his passenger took with them to their graves.
The Supercab was destroyed in the crash. Its registration was cancelled by the CAA on 17 February 1995.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422effded915d13710002ad/Gardan_GY-30_Supercab__G-BHLZ__08-87.pdf
2. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-BHLZ.pdf
3. G-BHLZ at Leicester (EGBG) in July 1980: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1104522/
4. Gardan GY-30 Supercab G-BHLZ visiting Sandown 27-7-1980: https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000303882.html
5. http://minicab.canalblog.com/albums/gy30_supercab/photos/69925479-gy30_gbhlz.html
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17598.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 17-Nov-2012 17:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Source, Embed code, Damage] |
| 19-Nov-2012 15:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 01-Dec-2015 23:52 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 10-Nov-2020 21:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 24-Dec-2021 17:29 | harro | Updated [Accident report] |
| 24-Dec-2021 17:35 | harro | Updated [Accident report] |
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