ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 18961
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| Date: | Wednesday 20 November 1985 |
| Time: | 18:48 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31 Turbo Navajo |
| Owner/operator: | Oxford Aero Charter t/a Oxaero |
| Registration: | G-BHIZ |
| MSN: | 31-672 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bluebell Hill, Burham, near Aylesford, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Le Bourget, Paris (LBG/LFPB) |
| Rochester, Kent (RCS/EGTO) | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Piper PA-31 Turbo Navajo G-BHIZ: On the evening of 20 November 1985, Piper Navajo G-BHIZ, owned by Oxford Aero Charter (t/a Oxaero), but operated by GEC, was inbound to Rochester from Southend with a pilot and two passengers on board. The aircraft was returning to Rochester after an overnight business trip to Paris. It landed at Southend Airport at 18:15 hours where HM customs clearance was obtained. The aircraft left Southend at 18:31 hours for the 14 mile flight to Rochester. It was dark with snow, frost and fog warnings in force. The stratus cloud base at Rochester was estimated to be 600 feet and visibility was estimated to be 2,000 meters in rain and snow.
The pilot made an approach to runway 03 but was not happy with it and overflew at between 300 and 400 feet. He stated his intention to go around and make another approach to runway 21. However in the course of so doing the Navajo flew into woodland on the south-western slope of nearby Bluebell Hill, at about 45 feet below its summit (which is just over 500 feet) and at a distance of some 2 km from the airfield. From first impact to coming to rest, the Navajo travelled only about 80 feet. But in the course of this, the starboard outer wing and the undercarriage were ripped off and then the port outer wing partly broke away. One passenger was killed on impact. Because the fuel tanks were ruptured, fire quickly broke out, which killed the pilot and other passenger, and the Navajo was destroyed in the conflagration. Its registration was cancelled by the CAA on 11 December 1987 as 'destroyed'.
The accident was investigated by the AAIB. In its report it found no pre-impact structural failure of the airframe or damage to the flying controls and that both engines had been fully functional. The pilot faced a difficult task in bringing the Navajo in to land in the meteorological conditions pertaining that evening, which made the approach more difficult to an airfield without instrument landing systems. He had to fly by reference to visual locators, which meant that, on his approach, he had a vertical 'window' of a little over 160 feet between the top of Bluebell Hill and the cloud base. That approach, it seems, was well to the left of the runway centre line and below the safe glide slope. There were other possible contributory factors - an assault on the pilot in Paris the previous day and whether he was wearing his glasses whilst flying the Navajo. Furthermore, he may have suffered disorientation as a result of the 'black hole' effect - arising out of the contrast between the sparsely lit terrain under his approach and the brightly lit conurbation to the north of him - making him perceive his altitude to be greater than actually it was. However ultimately the report attributed blame to the pilot for failing to keep above the high ground on approach to the airfield in the dark and in poor weather conditions".
Blue Bell Hill is a chalk hill between Maidstone and Rochester in the English county of Kent. It overlooks the River Medway and is part of the North Downs. It rises to an elevation of 160 metres (520 feet)
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
1. Chatham Standard - Tuesday 4 March 1986
2. Chatham News - Friday 21 March 1986
3. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ec2640f0b613460000dd/Piper_Navajo_PA-31_G-BHIZ_01-86.pdf
4. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-BHIZ.pdf
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-piper-pa-31-310-navajo-rochester-3-killed
6. https://www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/G-BHIZ/914403
7. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BHIZ.html
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17602.0
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bell_Hill
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 05-Feb-2009 22:04 | Anon. | Updated |
| 28-Oct-2014 22:49 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Nov-2020 20:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 16-Jul-2022 22:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category] |
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