Date:	Monday 23 August 1982
Time:	day
Type:	Southern Aerosports Scorpion
Owner/operator:	Twinflight Ltd
Registration:	G-MBUN
MSN:	006
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Lashenden (Headcorn), 8 miles SE of Maidstone, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Lashenden (Headcorn) Airfield, Kent (EGKH)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Southern Aerosports Scorpion G-MBUN: First registered (C of R G-MBUN/R1) on 18 May 1982 to Twinflight Ltd., Lashenden (Headcorn) Airfield, Ashford, Kent

Written off (destroyed) 23 August 1982: The fatal crash of Southern Aerosports Scorpion G-MBUN on 23 August 1982 at Lashenden (Headcorn), 8 miles SE of Maidstone, Kent, was the third of three Scorpion crashes in just over two months. The other two were G-MMMM (on 27 June 1982) and G-MBLI (on 7 August 1982). A contemporary newspaper report has further details ("Daily Mirror" Monday Wednesday 25 August 1982):

"Tragedy of defiant girl pilot

A YOUNG woman pilot and her man passenger died in a crash after she ignored flying instructions.

She had been told to use a tiny Microlight aircraft only for training hops along a runway because of doubts about its safety. But the pilot, 23-yearold Lolita Strauss, left the runway of Headcorn airfield, Kent, and then crashed in nearby fields.

Miss Strauss, of Coilingwood, North-west London, and passenger Anthony Cascoyne, 34, of Sittingbourne, Kent, died instantly. Local villagers have campaigned against Microlight aircraft since a pilots' training school started using them at Headcorn earlier this year. One aircraft came down in a field in June, hitting two bullocks which later died.

All Southern Aero Sports Scorpions were grounded by the UK Civil Aviation Authority in late 1982. This followed a series of three in-flight structural failures, two on single-seaters and one on a two-seater, which resulted in three deaths and one serious injury. As reported in the "Liverpool Echo" on Wednesday 25 August 1982:

"AIRCRAFT GROUNDED.

The Civil Aviation Authority has grounded Scorpion Microlight aircraft made by Southern Aerosports. The move followed the death of a woman pilot instructor and her male pupil in a crash at Headcorn, near Maidstone, Kent, on Monday night".

Subsequent investigation by the Accident Investigation Branch revealed a lack of torsional stiffness in the main structural components, as well as a poor standard of detail engineering. The company went into liquidation shortly after the accidents. By the end of 1982 they were no longer trading. Between 30 and 40 Scorpions were made, in various guises, all using Robin engines of either 330 or 440 cc.

Registration G-MBUN cancelled (and aircraft de-registered) by the CAA on 23 October 1986

1. Daily Mirror - Wednesday 25 August 1982 (Accident Report)
2. Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 25 August 1982 (Accident Report)
3. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Wednesday 25 August 1982 (Accident Report)
4. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Tuesday 16 November 1982 (Coroner's Inquest Report)
5. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-MBUN.pdf
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17938.0
7. https://www.bmaa.org/the-bmaa/bmaa-history/bmaa-history-1982
8. http://all-aero.com/index.php/54-planes-p-q-e-r-s/10460-southern-aero-sports-scorpion

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Nov-2020 19:41	Dr. John Smith	Added