Date:	Friday 20 October 1995
Time:	17:03
Type:	de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Brian C Edwards
Registration:	VH-HPH
MSN:	1375
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	near Jandakot Airport, Perth, WA -   Australia
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Jandakot Airport, Jandakot, WA (YPJT)
Destination airport:	Jandakot Airport, Jandakot, WA (YPJT)
Investigating agency:	BASI
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
de Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth VH-HPH c/no 1375 (Built up from spares at Deniliquin, NSW, although reported as being built from parts which included some of Tiger Moth A17-444 [MSN DHA.643] which crashed 7.12.42). Registered 8.8.88 to Brian C Edwards, Jandakot, WA named "Matilda". To UK 2.90, assembled for flight by owner Binbrook (Lincolnshire, UK) to Perth, Western Australia (to commemorate loss of owner's father on ops with 460 Squadron in a Lancaster 3.7.43). Damaged in forced landing Smarden, Kent 2.3.90 following engine failure.

This incident generated something rare - an accident investigation, involving a vintage light aeroplane, by two air safety authorities (the AAIB and the ATSB) half a world apart, each of which produced their own report into the incident.

On 2 March 1990 Australian Tiger Moth VH-HPH ('Mathilda') took off from RAF Binbrook with the intention of flying to Australia. Its pilot was Brian Edwards, who was making the flight as a tribute to his father, a bomber pilot in the RAF whose aircraft went missing on an operation over Germany during WW2, and to raise money for the charity, Legacy, which subsequently supported financially his widowed mother and himself. AU$40,000 was raised by the flight - although it very nearly came to a premature end, before completion of its first day of flying, in a field at Smarden, near Ashford, Kent.

The Tiger Moth had left Binbrook at 10:30am local time, and flew south from Lincolnshire, planning to land at Lydd, Kent to clear customs. However at 11:52am local time, whilst at between 1,500 and 2,000 feet over Smarden, the pilot heard a loud bang and noted the engine speed increasing. His propeller had parted company with the aeroplane, striking the leading edge of its upper starboard wing, as it did so, and causing the fabric to peel away from the wing. He throttled back and looked for a field in which to make a forced landing. Whilst this was made successfully, in the course of it the Tiger Moth suffered further damage to its undercarriage and elevators.

Subsequent examination of the Tiger Moth revealed that the propeller separation was caused by crankshaft failure, despite the fact that its engine had been modified to prevent or minimise the risk of just this, and its crankshaft had operated for only 150 hours. It would seem that the Tiger Moth was fitted with replacement crankshaft as it is noted, in the AAIB report, that the failed crankshaft was sent to Australia for investigation.

Accoarding to a pair of contemporary local newspaper reports

"Sandwell Evening Mail - Friday 2 March 1990
Weather delays epic plane journey

BAD weather prevented the start today of an epic 15,000 mile flight from England to Australia in an open-cockpit Tiger Moth named Matilda. Physiotherapist Brian Edwards, 49, from Perth, Western Australia, was due to take off from RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire, for the five-week trip but a spokesman at the airstrip said ice and snow meant the plane could not leave. "We hope the sun and a little sweeping will get him off later today," he said. Mr Edwards chose to begin his journey at RAF Binbrook because his father was reported missing on a mission from the base in World War Two.

Aberdeen Press and Journal - Saturday 03 March 1990
Aussie’s epic trip lasts only two hours

AN epic 15,000-mile flight from England to Australia in a vintage Tiger Moth came to grief less than two hours after take-off yesterday when the intrepid pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in a field. But Brian Edwards’ first concern after his forced landing in Kent was not for the future of his five-week adventure. Asked if he needed assistance he replied: "I don’t need any help. I only need directions to the nearest pub.”
He set off for Australia from RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire, in Matilda, an open-cockpit Tiger Moth, and was due to refuel at Lydd in Kent. He was forced to land 15 miles short of the airstrip because of propeller trouble. Police said the 49-year-old physiotherapist, from Perth, Australia, was shaken but unhurt".

Repaired and departed Hatfield, Herfordshire 23.3.90; arrived Jandakot, Perth, WA 13.5.90. Departed Jandakot 26.9.93 on 7,000 mile circumnavigation of Australia, returning 31.10.93 to Jandokot.

Damaged in forced landing on take-off at Jandakot Airport, Jandakot, Western Australia 20.10.95. Accoarding to the ATSB Report into the incident:

"The pilot reported that shortly after departure from Jandakot the engine lost power and then stopped altogether. He attempted to carry out a forced landing in a grassed paddock but the aircraft was damaged in the process. An inspection of the aircraft's fuel system disclosed that the fuel filter, lines and carburettor were contaminated by a significant amount of rust-coloured water. However, no water was evident in fuel obtained from the drain points on either the main or auxiliary fuel tanks. The pilot reported that he had drained a significant amount of water from the main fuel tank prior to departure. The main fuel tank was constructed of corrugated metal. The longitudinal corrugations were not connected to each other and most were not connected to the single drain-sump. Water had collected in the corrugations and some was still evident after the accident. The drain-sump was not located on the lowest part of the tank and undrainable water could accumulate in the tank, aft of the sump, with the aircraft in the ground attitude.

An experienced Tiger Moth engineer reported that inadequate fuel tank drain systems was a known problem and an Airworthiness Directive (AD) had been issued which required that fuel-drain points, fitted to some aircraft types (including the Tiger Moth), be designed so that water could not be conveyed to the engine in any normal attitude for the aircraft. These drain points were usually fitted to the lowest point on the tank. That is, along the rear edge. The AD was withdrawn when a number of requirements, covered by several ADs, were incorporated into Civil Aviation Orders Part 100.

Transfer of the fuel-drain requirements to the CAOs was incomplete because, whilst similar fuel-drain requirements exist for aircraft constructed in accordance with the amateur-built category of aircraft there is no longer any requirement to retro-fit similar systems to existing aircraft, such as the Tiger Moth. Two Tiger Moth fuel tank modifications, designed to meet the requirements of the AD before it was withdrawn, were available to overcome the lack of drainage found in this tank. Both incorporated drain points along the rear edge. Neither of these modifications had been incorporated in VH-HPH's fuel tank.

It is probable that in-flight aircraft movement allowed some of the water that had collected in the corrugations, and at the rear of the tank, to make its way into the fuel system and cause the engine stoppage.

An inspection of the ground marks at the accident site indicated that the aircraft touched down whilst it was still in a sideslip to the left. Touchdown was followed by a partial ground-loop as the aircraft tipped up onto its nose and left upper wing. The aircraft was approaching a fence on touchdown. It is possible that the pilot used the sideslip manoeuvre in an attempt to loose height quickly and touchdown earlier, but did not stop the sideslip in time for the landing. An inspection of the lower left wing during the post-accident investigation disclosed that one spar had fractured some time prior to the accident. It was also evident that reconstruction of the wing, also carried out some time prior to the accident, was not in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications".

Aircraft based at Edwards Vineyard, near Margaret River, WA (not flown after owner died 20.11.2003). Registration VH-HPH cancelled 20.6.05 as Withdrawn From Use

1. Sandwell Evening Mail - Friday 2 March 1990
2. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Saturday 3 March 1990
3. Newcastle Journal - Saturday 3 March 1990
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. AAIB Report on accident of 2.3.90: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422eac440f0b6134200002b/De_Havilland_Tiger_Moth__VH-HPH_06-90.pdf
6. ATSB Summary of the acident of 20.10.1995: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1995/aair/199503537/
7. ATSB Final Report of the accident of 20.10.1995: https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4933335/199503537.pdf
8. Tiger Moth VH-HPH at Margaret River, WA 22.2.2016: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/VH-HPH
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jandakot_Airport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Apr-2018 09:21	Pineapple	Added
22-Jan-2022 18:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
22-Jan-2022 18:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
22-Jan-2022 18:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
07-Jun-2022 21:38	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]