ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 266967
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| Date: | Friday 20 August 2021 |
| Time: | c. 14:40 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna 182B Skylane |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-OMAG |
| MSN: | 52214 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1959 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Dunkeswell Airport (EGTU), Honiton, Devon -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Bodmin Airport (EGLA) |
| Dunkeswell Airport (EGTU) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Boeing-Stearman N2S-4 (N68427) landed on top of a Cessna 182B (G-OMAG) at Dunkeswell Airport (EGTU).
At 13:00 UTC on the day of the accident, the pilot of G-OMAG (the Cessna) took off from Bodmin Aerodrome en-route to Dunkeswell Aerodrome to deliver the aircraft to its owner following an annual inspection. At 13:05, the pilot of N68427 (the Stearman) took off from Dunkeswell, his home base, for a flight in the local area. After takeoff he departed the circuit to the north, maintaining a listening watch with Dunkeswell Radio.
The weather was reported by various witnesses to be ‘workable’ with overcast cloud at 1,200 ft above the aerodrome and patches of lower cloud at 600 to 800 ft above surface level in the vicinity of Dunkeswell. Visibility was approximately 5 km and the wind was light from the south-west.
At around 13:26 the Cessna established communications with Dunkeswell Radio, requesting the airfield details. A radio operator informed him that runway 22 was in use, with a QFE of 986 hPa.
At approximately the same time, the Stearman re-joined the Dunkeswell circuit from the east and positioned on a left base for runway 22. The pilot reported that he made a radio call indicating his intention to join the circuit but could not recall receiving an answer. None of the aerodrome operator’s staff who were present in their office could remember with any certainty either hearing, or responding to, this radio call.
At 13:29, the Stearman completed a touch-and-go landing and continued into the left-hand visual circuit, achieving a downwind height of 750 ft. The Cessna was now approximately one nautical mile to the west and the pilot made a track change to the left, onto a northerly heading, to arc around the aerodrome to position to join the circuit from the dead side onto a right base for runway 22.
The Cessna pilot reported that he continued toward final approach at approximately 600 ft aal and when established on final transmitted "golf alpha golf final 22". He reported that no radio calls were heard after his initial contact with Dunkeswell Radio and that he believed he was joining an empty circuit. Following a normal powered approach at approximately 70 mph, the Cessna landed just beyond the displaced threshold, intending to turn off at the runway intersection. The groundspeed was allowed to decay and the flaps were retracted. With around 100 m to go to the intersection, the pilot reported that he heard and felt what seemed like an “explosion” and then became aware of propeller blades rotating in front of his face. He recalled that the cockpit was filled with debris from the shattered windshield, shards of metal and splintered wood.
At the point the Cessna was approximately one nautical mile from the runway threshold, CCTV footage showed the Stearman flying a curving left base leg, descending from downwind. The pilot was not aware that the Cessna had joined the circuit and had heard no radio transmissions.
The pilot reported that he made a radio transmission as he started the base leg, then again when established on final. He then heard a final call from another aircraft and, assuming it was an aircraft positioning behind him, made an information call: “November 27 final, close to threshold”. There was no response from the other aircraft, so he continued with the approach. CCTV footage showed that the Cessna had passed ahead of, and below, the Stearman before the Stearman had completed the base turn. Various witnesses reported seeing both aircraft on the final approach in very close proximity, “as though they were in formation”.
The pilot reported that the landing “didn’t feel right” and that the aircraft was not responding to control inputs. He applied power to correct what he felt was a drift to the left, then reduced power to idle. The aircraft continued to swing further to the left, off the runway and onto the grass. The pilot believed that the left landing gear had failed. Once the aircraft stopped, he looked down and saw that his aircraft was straddled on top of another aircraft, the Cessna.
AAIB Conclusion
N68427 collided with G-OMAG while landing at Dunkeswell Aerodrome because the pilot was not aware that G-OMAG had joined the circuit from the dead side and positioned ahead of him. The pilot of N68427 did not see G-OMAG, possibly because the relative positions of the two aircraft meant that G-OMAG was obscured from view by N68427’s structure. The pilot of G-OMAG had not been passed information from the AGCS radio operator on the presence of N68427 and had not seen it in the circuit.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/man-injured-aircraft-crash-dunkeswell-5814662
2. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N68427/history/20210820/1307Z/EGTU/EGTU
3. https://www.pprune.org/accidents-close-calls/642241-dunkeswell-incident.html
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-58291102
5. https://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=119440.
6. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/dramatic-picture-shows-aircraft-crash-5815447
7. https://eastdevonnews.co.uk/2021/08/21/man-injured-in-plane-crash-on-tarmac-at-dunkeswell-airfield-near-honiton/
8. https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbodminairfield%2F
9. [Photo] G-OMAG at Honiton 12.12.2020: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9985489
10. https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=7214E
11. AAIB Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62fe672fe90e0703e0050dae/Cessna_182B_G-OMAG_and_Boeing_Stearman_A75N_N68427_10-22.pdf
Media:
Whilst completing a circuit at Dunkeswell Aerodrome in Devon in August 2021, a Boeing Stearman A75N1 (N68427) landed on top of a Cessna 182B (G-OMAG) on the runway.
— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) August 25, 2022
Read the report here: https://t.co/NEa4ymtAzD#AviationSafety pic.twitter.com/ApL9eGE7Si
At Dunkerswell Airfield, near Honiton. Just witnessed a plane crash, one small plane landed on another. Hoping no-one is injured 🤞@DSFireUpdates @swasFT pic.twitter.com/tUFilHDYFf
— Tom George (@P_T_George) August 20, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Aug-2021 15:44 | harro | Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Embed code] |
| 20-Aug-2021 16:12 | harro | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source] |
| 20-Aug-2021 19:15 | ANON | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 20-Aug-2021 19:15 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative] |
| 21-Aug-2021 20:28 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Nature, Narrative] |
| 21-Aug-2021 23:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 22-Aug-2021 14:13 | A.J.Scholten | Updated [Source] |
| 22-Aug-2021 23:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Aug-2022 12:34 | harro | Updated [Nature, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 25-Aug-2022 16:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
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