ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 18926
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| Date: | Tuesday 8 June 1971 |
| Time: | 17:34 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-22-150 Tri-Pacer |
| Owner/operator: | Trustee of the Stapleford Tiger Group |
| Registration: | G-APXS |
| MSN: | 22-7057 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Kingsdown, Swale, 3 miles SSE of Sittingbourne, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Le Touquet-Côte d'Opale Airport (LTQ/LFAT) |
| Southend, Essex (SEN/EGMC) | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Written off (destroyed) 8/6/1971 when crashed near the south side of the M2 Motorway at Kingsdown, three miles south south east of Sittingbourne, Swale, Kent, en route between Le Touquet, France, and Southend, Essex. All four persons on board (pilot and three passengers) were killed. Of the four fatalities, the AAIB report only names the pilot, Mr. A.F.Henty. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The aircraft was on a private flight under visual flight rules (VFR) from Le Touquet to Southend. North of Ashford, Kent, the aircraft ran into low cloud and the pilot was unable to continue visually. He requested assistance from Southend air traffic control (ATC) and was asked, if he could, to climb to 2,000 feet to establish radar contact.
A blip then appeared on the radar screen in approximate relationship to the geographical position of G-APXS. However when the radar controller gave the pilot instructions to take up a new heading for identification, the blip did not respond appropriately but made a left and then a right turn before disappearing from the screen. At this time a light aircraft was heard circling in cloud over Kingsdown and then G-APXS spiralled out of the cloud to crash in a field. The aircraft caught fire and the four occupants were killed.
The report concludes that the accident was the result of the pilot becoming disorientated in cloud. The base of the cloud was too low for recovery to be made by visual reference before the aircraft struck the ground ."
Registration G-APXS formally cancelled by the CAA on 10/06/1971 as aircraft "destroyed". Note that the crash location is that of Kingsdown, a small hamlet surrounded by the villages of Frinsted, Milstead, Doddington and Lynsted in Kent, England. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Lynsted with Kingsdown at approximate coordinates 51.300°N 0.767°E. (Not to be confused with the "other" Kingsdown in Kent, which is south of Walmer, near Deal, on the Kent coast). The two locations are some 35 miles apart!
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5423032de5274a1314000b73/12-1972_G-APXS.pdf
2. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-APXS-3.pdf
3. http://www.edendale.co.uk/download/MAS%20May%201966.pdf
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15790.0
5. G-APXS at Luton Airport (LTN/EGGP) on 7/4/1963: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1077571
6. G-APXS in 1960: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1379078
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsdown,_Swale
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 03-Jun-2012 11:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 05-May-2013 12:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Oct-2015 21:07 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Mar-2020 19:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 29-Mar-2020 19:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 02-Oct-2020 22:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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