ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 187313
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| Date: | Sunday 27 June 1993 |
| Time: | 16:25 |
| Type: | Thruster TST Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | Diane Daniels (owner) |
| Registration: | G-MTVU |
| MSN: | 8028-TST-060 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Sandown Airport, Lake, Isle of Wight -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Sandown Airport, Isle of Wight (EGHN) |
| Sandown Airport, Isle of Wight (EGHN) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 27 June 1993 Thruster G-MTVU had been flown from Thorney Island to Sandown Airfield on the Isle of Wight. It took off from there just before 4:30pm with an instructor/pilot and student pilot/passenger on board. Prior to this the pilot had told the airfield manager to expect the Thruster's take-off performance to be poor. In view of what occurred subsequently, it proved impossible to determine, with certainty, the reason for that remark. However it may have been for one or more of the following reasons:
a. the estimated load was some 20kg in excess of the permitted maximum.
b. the Thruster apparently was not well maintained and was in less than perfect condition.
c. there was pre-existing damage to the rear fuselage tube which may have affected its performance in flight.
The Thruster's take-off performance indeed was poor. Although the engine apparently was at a high power output, its rate of climb was slow, it flew unsteadily and it had an abnormally low elevator position. When over the runway threshold, it had reached only 50 feet. It was still flying unsteadily, but as it turned downwind its rate of climb seemed to improve a little and it may have reached a height of 80 feet maximum. However beyond that it didn't climb and it appeared that more elevator had been applied. It seemed that the Thruster might be returning to the airfield to land. But before it could complete that turn it rolled to port and dived in, about 50 metres from the runway. There was no fire but both occupants of the Thruster were killed.
The AAIB investigated the accident and published a report. This noted a number of factors potentially pertinent to the crash:
1. the forward spark plug was loose and fouled, which may have reduced the engine performance.
2. the carburettor choke tube rubber connecting sleeves were badly degraded and partially cracked.
3. the outboard port wing battens may have become displaced some time prior to the accident flight.
4. the rear fuselage tube had been bent upward and sideways, not necessarily as a result of the impact damage.
The latter point seems particularly to have concerned the AAIB because, in flight, it would have had the tendency to force the Thruster nose upwards and to starboard. If so, it may have been this that the pilot was seeking to counteract with excessive elevator. It was surmised that the damage to the rear fuselage tube may have occurred at some time before the accident flight and have gone unnoticed (although one might think that the need to apply abnormal elevator might have put the pilot on enquiry and that this may have led him to the source of the problem).
Finally the AAIB noted that the Thruster's maintenance records left something to be desired. Records of this were not extensive. Supporting documentation was absent. Such maintenance as was carried out and signed off seems to have been undertaken by the pilot. There was only one maintenance entry in just under seven months prior to the crash. Thus in light of this one cannot help but wonder how airworthy the Thruster was when it took off from Sandown on 27 June 1993.
A contemporary local newspaper adds the detail of naming the two fatalities ("Newcastle Journal" - Tuesday 29 June 1993):
"Air crash pair named
TWO men killed when their micro-light aircraft crashed on the Isle of Wight at the weekend were pilot Thomas Daniels, 42, of Emsworth, Hampshire, and Ian Stamp, 40, of Sompting, West Sussex".
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Aircraft destroyed". As a result, the CAA cancelled the registration G-MTVU three months later on 27 September 1993
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Tuesday 29 June 1993
2. Newcastle Journal - Tuesday 29 June 1993
3. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422fd9c40f0b61342000853/Thruster_TST_MK1__G-MTVU_11-93.pdf
4. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=MTVU
5. G-MTVU at Wroughton, Wiltshire (EGDT) on 6/7/1991: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1689655
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17949.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-May-2016 17:04 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 04-Dec-2020 02:01 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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