ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 64755
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| Date: | Monday 25 August 1969 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Westland Sioux AH.1 |
| Owner/operator: | ARWF, British Army Air Corps |
| Registration: | XW191 |
| MSN: | WA711 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Princess Avenue, Christchurch, Dorset -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Middle Wallop, Hampshire (EGVP) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Four Sioux AH.1 aircraft of the AAC "Blue Easgles" Aerobatic Display team (Other team members were XT206, XT509 and XW192) were in a flat diamond formation during a display at Christchurch, Dorset. The rotors of XT509 and XW191 touched at 300 feet, causing XT509 to lose a rotor. It plunged into the ground and caught fire killing the pilot. XW191 landed heavily in the garden of a private house at the corner of Princess Acenue and Whitehall, Christchurch, and caught fire. The pilot received minor injuries
Tim Grant age 16 living nearby at the time remembers: "I could hear the helicopters and watched from the front garden as they flew over in their display act and then I went back inside. A short while later there was a ‘bang’ and then a crash as one hit our roof and dropped into our yard in the back. I was stunned and my father ran out of the front of the house. Mum was shocked and we saw a pilot staggering across the road that runs past the house. My father grabbed him and helped him back towards the front door."
"At this time we didn’t know what had happened. My mum realised something was wrong and she discovered the helicopter was in our yard and burning fiercely. An ambulance arrived and my dad helped the pilot to it, unaware of the discovery mum and I had made. Fire and police were now on the scene and we had to leave for our safety."
The pilot killed was later named as Graham Victor "Bill" Bailey, aged 31
Sources:
1. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://daveg4otu.tripod.com/hancrash.htm]
2. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1969.htm
3. http://www.royhodges.co.uk/Helicopter%20Regatta%20Crash%201969.pdf
4. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/snapshotsofthepast/4628514.Thousands_saw_Christchurch_helicopter_crash/
5. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1335004/
6. http://www.military-airshows.co.uk/disteam.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2011 16:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Nov-2011 23:22 | Damole | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Jul-2013 19:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Jul-2013 19:34 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 20-Jul-2013 01:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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