Date:	Wednesday 12 October 2016
Time:	15:00 UTC
Type:	Pitts S-1S
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	G-BXTI
MSN:	NP1
Year of manufacture:	1971
Engine model:	Lycoming O-360-A4A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Mersehead Sands, Southerness Beach, Southerness, Dumfries & Galloway -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Private Farm Strip, Dumfries & Galloway
Destination airport:	Mersehead Sands, Southerness Beach, Southerness, Dumfries & Galloway
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Substantially damaged due to loss of control on landing, Southerness Beach, Southerness, Dumfries & Galloway, 12 October 2016. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report in to the accident:

"G-BXTI and another aircraft departed from a local private farm strip with the intention of performing some practice precautionary landings on an isolated sandbar on the coast. The pilot had landed there on previous occasions.

The other aircraft landed first and then marked an appropriate area of hard sand, while G-BXTI circled overhead. The pilot of G-BXTI then performed a low-level circuit with go-around, followed by an approach to land. During the flare, the pilot reported that the “holding off felt longer” than he was expecting, which he attributed to a headwind of approximately 10 kt. During this stage, the aircraft drifted to the left by 15-20 m which the pilot did not notice. As the aircraft settled on the sand, the pilot reported a significant deceleration and the aircraft tipped onto its nose before he could react.

Subsequent examination of the tyre tracks revealed that the aircraft had drifted far enough to the left to miss the area of hard sand which had previously been marked. Touchdown was in an area of softer sand into which the tyres sank, leading to the abrupt deceleration."

Nature of Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Damage to tail section, landing gear, fuselage, engine and propeller"

Southerness is a small, compact coastal village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Southerness is located approximately 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the A710 between Caulkerbush and Kirkbean. Southerness has a large, shallow, sandy beaches on both sides of the rocky next to the village and to the west extend out to the vast Mersehead Sands exposed at low tide

1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58a32853ed915d7f3700002b/Pitts_S-1S_Special_G-BXTI_03-17.pdf
2. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-BXTI/1088748
3. https://www.airteamimages.com/pitts-special_G-BXTI_-private_245968.html
4. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BXTI.html
5. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-bxti
6. https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-scotland/dumfries-and-galloway/southerness.htm
7. https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=64004
8. As ZS-VZX: http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showphoto.php?photo=273324&cat=500
9. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/219897/G-BXTI
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southerness

This Pitts S-1S was built in 1971, and was previously registered in South Africa as ZS-VZX. The aircraft was first registered in the UK as G-BXTI on 9 March 1998. It has passed through the hands of six UK-registered owners between 1998 and 2017. Unusually, the sixth (and current) owner (from 27 January 2017) is based in Leer, Lower Saxony, Germany, but the aircraft has retained its UK registration

Pitts S-1S G-BXTI at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Glasgow (PIK/EGPW) 20 August 2016 Pitts S-1S G-BXTI at Sleap Airfield, Harmer Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire (EGCV) on 5 July 2014

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Mar-2017 22:05	Dr.John Smith	Added
11-Apr-2024 09:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]