ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 89975
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| Date: | Sunday 1 February 2004 |
| Time: | 13:54 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee |
| Owner/operator: | Peterborough & Spalding Gliding Club Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BDWL |
| MSN: | 25-3575 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1965 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-540-B2C5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Crowland Airfield, Spalding Road, Crowland, Lincolnshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Cowland, Lincolnshire (X3CS) |
| Cowland, Lincolnshire (X3CS) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 01-02-2004 when crashed at Crowland Airfield, Spalding Road, Crowland, Lincolnshire, possibly due to pilot incapacitation. The Glider Tug aircraft failed to pull out of a dive from approx 300 feet following glider release. The pilot - the sole person on board - sustained fatal injuries, although it is possible that he had sustained a fatal heart attack (cardiac arrest) at the controls before the aircraft impacted into the ground. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The takeoff from Runway 21 proceeded normally and the aircraft and glider combination climbed ahead, at approximately 60 knots on the runway heading, until they reached a height of about 500 feet. The Pawnee then started a gentle turn to the right. The glider followed as the Pawnee's angle of bank gradually increased and its rate of climb reduced. There was no change in the Pawnee's engine power and no apparent pilot induced deflection of the Pawnee's control surfaces that could have given rise to the manoeuvre. The tug and glider combination then began to descend and accelerate.
When the angle of bank reached approximately 20 degrees the glider instructor realised that something was wrong. He took control of the glider and called "release" while pulling on the yellow release toggle. The student also pulled his release toggle and the glider separated from the tug at an estimated height of between 300 to 400 feet agl and at a speed of about 70 knots.
The glider continued the turn into a right hand circuit and landed safely back on Runway 21. Meanwhile, the Pawnee was seen to continue to turn to the right, with a gradually increasing angle of bank, and to descend at an ever
steepening angle, still without any apparent control inputs being made by the pilot. The aircraft struck the ground pitched nose down by 45 degrees and banked 35 degrees to the right. Witnesses on the ground remarked that the engine sounded as if it had remained at take-off power throughout.
Members of the gliding club rendered assistance to the pilot of the Pawnee, which, despite being severely damaged, had not caught fire. On arrival at the aircraft however, it was evident that he had not survived the accident."
Pilot was 81 years old, named in press reports as Bob Sharman, and is believed to have suffered a heart attack whilst at the controls. (A contemporary newspaper report - see link #3 - seems to confirm this. The AAIB report also notes "...it is likely that the crash was caused by medical incapacitation due to haemorrhage into an atheromatous plaque of a coronary artery").
Nature of Damage to the airframe: Per the AAIB report "Aircraft destroyed". As a result, the registration G-BDWL was cancelled as "destroyed" on 02-04-2004
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fe86ed915d137400096d/G-BDWL_3-05.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BDWL
3. https://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/pilot-81-killed-in-plane-crash-1-584894/
4. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP800.pdf
5. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/FACTOR200514.PDF
6. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1037725/
7. https://www.pprune.org/private-flying/117519-another-sad-day.html
8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/3449683.stm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Feb-2011 14:43 | harro | Added |
| 02-May-2012 06:42 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2016 14:55 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2016 14:57 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2016 15:02 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2016 15:06 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Destination airport, Source] |
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