Date:	Saturday 9 May 1964
Time:	15:20
Type:	Taylorcraft Auster AOP.IV
Owner/operator:	600 (City of London) Sqn Flg Gp
Registration:	G-ANHO
MSN:	899
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Biggin Hill Airport, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Biggin Hill Airport, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent (BQH/EGKB)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Built as Auster AOP.IV MT169 for RAF: First civilian registered 5/12/53 as G-ANHO (C of R R4281/1). Sold on and re-registered nine times between 5/12/53 and 15/5/63.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when destroyed in fatal take off accident from Biggin Hill, Kent, on 9/5/1964. Auster V G-ANHO was owned by No. 600 (City of London) Squadron Flying Group and operated from Biggin Hill Airfield. It was from there that it took off, with two on board, at about 15:18 on 9 May 1964 (shortly after the conclusion of the flying display on the penultimate day of the 1964 Biggin Hill Air Fair). It seems that the pilot, Mr A.N.J.WHEELER, experienced handling difficulties with the aircraft on taxiing to the take off point. On take off it swung significantly to port. On reaching a height of between about 50' and 100', the pilot made a steep 180º turn to port, during which its port wing tip struck rough ground, about 300 yards east of the threshold of runway 23, and the Auster cartwheeled, throwing the passenger clear (he was only slightly injured), but the pilot was killed. The aircraft was destroyed in the ensuing fire. The accident was investigated by the AIB. An incomplete copy of its report is available online (which, unfortunately, doesn't include the pages on which appears its conclusions as to the cause of the accident).

According to a contemporary local newspaper report (The Sunday People - Sunday 10 May 1964)

"CRASH AT AIR FAIR
A MAN watched a small Auster monoplane nose-dive into a rubbish dump on Biggin Hill airfield in Kent yesterday —without knowing his son was on board. His son, Michael Wheeler, 19, of Barton Hill Road, Sanderstead, Surrey, who was killed, is believed to have been piloting the aircraft.

Mr. N. Wheeler was watching from the control tower when the plane crashed seconds after taking off on a private flight not connected with the air travel fair being held on the field. He was told his son was on board by a bystander.

A passenger in the plane, Gerald Cross, 21, of Hillcott Road, Whyteleafe, Surrey, was thrown through the hood just before the crash and walked away from the blazing wreckage. He was taken to hospital with shock, cuts and bruises."

Registration G-ANHO cancelled by the CAA on 24/6/1964 as "destroyed"

1. The People - Sunday 10 May 1964
2. Report on the accident to Auster Mk.V G-ANHO at Biggin Hill Aerodrome, on 9th May, 1964, Ministry of Aviation, Accidents Investigation Branch, HMSO London 1965
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ANHO-1.pdf
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ANHO-2.pdf
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ANHO-3.pdf
6. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-ANHO.html
7. https://www.airphotographicinternational.com/products/g-anho-auster-5biggin-hill-1963
8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitworth/5453662506/
9. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1527643
10. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=789
11. http://www.ukserials.com/losses_civil.htm
12. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/307076-airshow-related-accidents-4.html#post10476612

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-May-2008 11:10	ASN archive	Added
27-Jul-2009 21:03	VHKDK	Updated
25-Nov-2012 15:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
12-Jan-2013 05:26	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
17-Jun-2013 13:04	Anon.	Updated [Total occupants]
28-Oct-2019 09:02	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
29-Mar-2020 00:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
29-Mar-2020 14:37	Iwosh	Updated [Operator, Operator]