ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 146802
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| Date: | Monday 19 July 1971 |
| Time: | 16:08 UTC |
| Type: |  Bell 47D-1 |
| Owner/operator: | Airlift Ltd |
| Registration: | G-ASJW |
| MSN: | D12 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1 mile NW of Saxilby, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Saxilby, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Ex-N158B (US registration cancelled 1/7/1963). Civil registered as G-ASJW on 3/7/63. Written off (destroyed) 19/7/1971 when control of the helicopter was lost during a post-maintenance test flight, and it crashed into the ground 1 mile north west of Saxilby, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (approximately six miles north-west of Lincoln), killing the pilot (only person on board). According to the summary of the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The helicopter crashed into a field of barley during a test flight, about twelve minutes after taking off from a field on the outskirts of Saxilby village. After making several low spraying runs over two field in the vicinity of the village, it made a sharp left hand turn and lost height until it was very close to the ground. The it zoomed vertically, went out of control, dived into the ground, and caught fire. The pilot was killed".
Maintenance error was the primary cause of the accident. According to an eyewitness report from another pilot who had flown this particular Bell 47D-1:
"The D-1 I flew in 1969 (G-ASJW - the Air Britain photo of it in December 1969 at Plymouth Roborough matches my logbook) was a pig if the irreversibles were not set up perfectly and the feedback forces in the cyclic could be horrendous if you moved the cyclic sharply - much as I expect you felt in avoiding the low flying jet.
I came close to stoofing G-ASJW in on one occasion because of the feedback forces experienced when mishandling the cyclic in a steep turn and sadly John Zwozny (ex-RN) was killed in G-ASJW in 1971 due to the irreversibles not being set up right. He pulled up at the end of a spray run and never came out of the manoeuvre".
The AAIB report names the pilot fatality as Mr. John Zwozny, aged 29, who was a former Royal Navy helicopter pilot. Registration G-ASJW cancelled by the CAA 17/8/73 as "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422ec82ed915d1374000115/10-1973_G-ASJW.pdf
2. CAA UK Registration: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ASJW.pdf
3. FAA US Registration: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=158B
4. G-ASKW at Plymouth (Roborough) (EGHD) on 2/12/1969: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1155478/
5. G-ASJW at Redhill 1968: https://www.na3t.org/air/photo/LA00072-1
6. https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/nostalgia/pals-enjoy-lazy-hazy-crazy-1502706
7. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45536/page/13327/data.pdf
8. https://www.pprune.org/7507500-post1638.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jul-2012 11:41 | ryan | Added |
| 08-Aug-2012 16:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2015 02:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 03-Aug-2015 17:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Aug-2015 20:14 | TB | Updated [Time, Location, Source] |
| 19-Aug-2016 12:55 | ericferret | Updated [Narrative] |
| 03-Oct-2020 22:42 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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