ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 172670
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| Date: | Friday 11 June 1971 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Bell 47G-2 |
| Owner/operator: | Farmair Ltd |
| Registration: | G-ATSH |
| MSN: | 0183 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Cranbrook, Sissinghurst, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Rush Green, Hertfordshire |
| Cranbrook, Kent | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ex-N237B: G-ATSH was first UK-registered on 11.03.1966 (C of R R.8949/1), and operated as a crop-sprayer out of Rush Green Aerodrome in Hertfordshire for Farmair Limited.
On 21.7.1966 this helicopter was being used for crop spraying in the Malton area of North Yorkshire; the aircraft was loaded with liquid insecticide and pre-flight checks carried out. The pilot then took off and climbed to around 200 feet, then descended towards the crop to be sprayed. When at a height of about five feet above the ground the engine cut out, he tried to make a landing but the skids of the helicopter caught the corn (and possibly a fence) the helicopter crashed and overturned. The pilot escaped injury but the aircraft was badly damaged. It was owned by Farmair Limited at the time of the accident.
Repaired and returned to service, a year later (in July 1967) it achieved fame in the TV Series "The Prisoner" as the helicopter which Number Six (played by Patrick McGoohan) clings to after the scenes at "Witchwood" in the episode "The Girl Who Was Death". As his nemesis takes off in G-ATSH, Patrick McGoohan runs after it, grabs the skids and hauls himself up aft of the cabin - apparently unnoticed. And when it lands, apparently equally unnoticed he drops from the helicopter and runs away to conceal himself in bushes. After that, presumably, it returned to crop spraying - although one website contends that it was used in other television series and in a James Bond film.
On 17 June 1971 the owner of G-ATSH, Farmair Ltd., relocated to premises at Station Road, Staplehurst, Kent. Whether its helicopter fleet was located in that area, I know not. If it was, that might explain why G-ATSH was landing at Cranbrook on 11 June 1971, in the course of which it caught fire and was damaged beyond repair. If it wasn't, presumably it was working in that area and was landing to replenish its chemical spray tanks. It would seem that the pilot escaped without injury. Registration G-ATSH cancelled by the CAA as aircraft "destroyed" 17 July 1971
Cranbrook is a small town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about 38 miles (61 km) southeast of central London.
Sources:
1. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/yorksother/atsh.html
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ATSH.pdf
3. http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/bell47g2.htm
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15008.0
5. https://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=The_Prisoner_(TV_Series)#Bell_B-47D-1
6. http://david-stimpson.blogspot.com/2013/03/helicopters.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranbrook,_Kent
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Jan-2015 01:44 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 04-Jan-2015 02:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 21-Feb-2020 14:55 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Feb-2020 14:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 21-Feb-2020 15:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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