Date:	Friday 5 July 1968
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	NV Luchtvaartmij General Aviation
Registration:	PH-BIS
MSN:	84118
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	REM platform, 10km off Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland -   Netherlands
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Banner and glider towing
Departure airport:	Bergen, North Holland, Netherlands
Destination airport:	Vlissingen (Flushing), Zeeland, Netherlands
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth MSN 84118; Taken on charge by the RAF as T7736, nominally at 15 MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 28.12.40. However, placed into long-term stroage in ‘purgatory’ at Laytons Garage, Bicester, Oxfordshire; returned to Morris Motors, Cowley, Oxford for erection [undated, but probably June 1941]. To 15 EFTS RAF Carlisle, Cumberland 24.6.41. To 19 EFTS RAF Sealand, Flintshire 30.6.41. To 24 EFTS RAF Sealand, Flintshire 7.2.42. To 9 MU RAF Cosford, Wolveerhampton, Staffordshire 29.7.46. To 2 Grading Unit, RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire 1.9.52. Ferried to 33 MU RAF Lyneham 9.3.53 for long-term storage pending disposal.

Struck off charge whenn sold 18.9.53 to W A Rollason Ltd, Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey. Overhauled at Croydon and delivered 10.59 as PH-BIS to the Netherlands via Biggin Hill. Regisrtered in the Netherlands as PH-BIS (C of R 738) 7.4.60 to NV Nastra Luchtreclame Service, Rotterdam. Damaged in forced landing nearr Gemert 22.5.61; repaired and returned to service. Re-registered 4.3.63 to Aero Ypenburg NV, Rotterdam. Re-registered 5.8.66 to NV Luchtvaartmij General Aviation, Rotterdam.

Crashed off Dutch Coast in North Sea 5.7.68 when banner hooked at offshore REM-Island TV & Radio station after engine failure. Wreck recovered but scrapped. REM Island was a platform built in the Republic of Ireland and towed off the Dutch coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting home of Radio and TV Noordzee. Both stations were dismantled by armed forces of the Netherlands. It was six miles off Noordwijk. According to a rough translation from Dutch into English of the accident report (see link #4 for the original Dutch text):

"05.07.1968
PH-BIS De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth 84118
North Sea
Together with the PH-UAI, PH-UAM ("FRUXOMA FRUIT LEMONADE") claimed the ("FRUO YOGURT") contract, which entailed a commercial advertising banner towing flight along the coast from Bergen to Vlissingen.

Whilst banner towing nearing the REM island TV & Radio Transmitter at 500ft the engine started irregular running. Loosing altitude fast and failing to discover the cause the pilot decided to ditch using the banner as drag in the water to prevent the plane to turn over at the water landing. Turning in a bit too sharp for the intended landing position on the waves, the rig tower ripped off the banner cutting the speed. The aircraft plunged into the water and sank immediately. The pilot was underwater and had to disengage and come to the surface. He still had about an hour to wait before being hoisted in an MLD helicopter (a Sikorsky S.58, callsign “Pedro 1”) just in front of the onrushing lifeboat from Noordwijk, the 'Kurt Carlsen'. Frustrated crew led by skipper Den Hollander, but it was no different. The cause was a broken magneto cogwheel in the engine".

The Pilot - P.M.Donker added the later comment, which counts as "his side of the story":

"The erratic running of the engine started at such a limited height that there was no time for a detailed troubleshooting. In order to ditch in the correct position with respect to the waves, the device (with tow) had to pass the transmitting tower rather narrowly.

I was fully conscious that the tow was still attached at that time, the driver only wanted to throw it off as late as possible, in order to minimize the chance of rolling over. However, the bend was still a bit too tight, so that the tow caught on the tower, the aircraft ended up in the sea with almost no forward speed and still rolled over".

A few weeks later, the wreckage of the PH-BIS was retrieved and the pilot was informed that his version of the incident was entirely in accordance with the facts. It turned out that the teeth of a Bakelite gear had partly disappeared, causing the two magnets to counteract each other. Besides, turning off the faulty magneto, had he known that, would have allowed normal continuation of flight"

Registration PH-BIS cancelled 16.1.69.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p841.html
4. https://www.hdekker.info/Nieuwe%20map/1968.htm
5. Newspaper cutting about the incident: https://hetnoordwijkblog-com.translate.goog/2011/05/13/terug-56-ph-bis-tigermoth/?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
6. https://www.hdekker.info/registermap/MB.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REM_Island
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen,_North_Holland
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlissingen

REM Island Radio & TV Transmitter Platform, shortly after being placed in position, 6 miles off Noordwijk, Netherlands, on 16.12.64:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Jan-2008 10:00	ASN archive	Added
06-Aug-2008 06:27	harro	Updated
02-Jun-2012 17:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
24-Nov-2014 12:54	pmdonker	Updated [Narrative]
03-Dec-2014 19:26	harro	Updated [Narrative]
30-Dec-2021 16:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
30-Dec-2021 16:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative]
30-Dec-2021 16:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-Dec-2021 16:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
15-Jun-2022 16:59	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]