This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can
submit corrected information.
Date: | Sunday 26 May 1963 |
Time: | 14:25 LT |
Type: | Druine D.31 Turbulent |
Owner/operator: | The Tiger Club |
Registration: | G-APIZ |
MSN: | PFA.478 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
Location: | Wells House Farm, West Clandon, near Guildford, Surrey -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Private |
Departure airport: | RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire (EGYD) |
Destination airport: | Redhill Aerodrome, Surrey (EGKR) |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Druine D.31 Turbulent G-APIZ: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 26.5.63 when crashed at Wells House Farm, West Clandon, near Guildford, Surrey. According to a contemporary report in "Flight International" magazine:
"About two hours after departure from Cranwell, on a flight to Redhill via Reading, engine failure made a forced landing necessary when the aircraft was over wooded and hilly country some 3 miles southeast of Guildford. The aircraft was seen to turn steeply, at a height of 70 to 100 feet, towards a field forming one of the two steep slopes of a valley. During the turn the aircraft lost height rapidly; the descent was checked temporarily, but the aircraft then stalled and dived to the ground a few yards from the further boundary of the field.
The pilot, who was seriously injured, was extricated from the wreckage by rescuers from a nearby farm. A strip examination of the engine, carried out during the investigation into the accident, revealed that the crankshaft had fractured. A large quantity of oil which had escaped from the rear of the engine during flight had covered the windscreen, thus increasing the pilot's difficulties in the attempted forced landing."
Registration G-APIZ cancelled 22.9.65 as "P.W.F.U." ("Permanently Withdrawn From Use")
That should have been the end of G-APIZ...and for 22 years, it was! However, the registration was reinstated on 22.1.87 to a new owner in Congleton, Cheshire, after a protracted rebuild; it is not clear how much remains of the original aircraft after this rebuild. Sold on five times between 1987 and 2010, and still currently registered
Sources:
1. Survey of accidents to aircraft in the United Kingdom 1963 / CAA
2.
https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-APIZ-1.pdf 3.
https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-APIZ-2.pdf 4.
https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964 5.
http://www.laa-archive.org.uk/photo/1003008/ 6.
http://www.oldmerstham.com/index.php?goto=redhillaerodrome5 7.
https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-APIZ 8. G-APIZ undergoing rebuild April 1983:
https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1514745 9. G-APIZ at Baginton Coventry in 1964:
https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1456323 Media:
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
23-May-2014 18:18 |
Dr. John Smith |
Added |
23-May-2014 18:19 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
27-May-2015 16:01 |
harro |
Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
14-Aug-2015 13:52 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
08-Mar-2020 01:02 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Source, Narrative] |