ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22645
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| Date: | Wednesday 2 July 1980 |
| Time: | 18:18 UTC |
| Type: | Edgar Percival EP-9 |
| Owner/operator: | Eagle Parachute Centre Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AOZO |
| MSN: | 29 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1 mile west of Ashford aerodrome, Lympne, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Parachuting |
| Departure airport: | Ashford Aerodrome (Lympne), Kent (EGMK) |
| Ashford Aerodrome (Lympne), Kent (EGMK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
c/no 29: Edgar Percival EP.9 Built at Stapleford, Abridge, Essex by Edgar Percival Aircraft Ltd. Test flown in "Class B" markings as G-43-8, 2.57. Registered (C of R R.5868/1) on 12.2.57 as G-AOZO to Edgar Percival Aircraft Ltd. CofA issued 6.3.57. Demonstrated in 1957-8, including ski-equipped flights in Sweden 1958. Rear-facing seat fitted and small round windows in rear doors.
Re-registered to Lancashire Aircraft Co Ltd, Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire 5.8.59. Fitted with 295 hp Lycoming and 3-blade propeller as Prospector 1, in 9.59. Moved to Lympne, Kent 1963. Re-registered (C of R G-AOZO/R2) to Strutbest Ltd, t/a Sussex Agricultural Aviation Services, 21.6.77. Offered for sale in "Flight" 4.78 for £12,500. Re-registered (C of R G-ZOAO/R3) to Alexander Black, Sellinge, Kent 11.10.78
Written off (destroyed) when took off from Ashford Aerodrome, Lympne, Kent on 2.7.80, and failed to gain circuit height with engine cutting out/spluttering. Aircraft stalled and dived into the ground from approximately 500 feet, and caught fire on impact. All six persons on board (Alex Black the pilot/owner, Les Riley - instructor, the mechanic and 3 parachutists from Germany) killed.
The subsequent AAIB report attributed the crash to engine failure, caused by water contamination in the fuel, and the absence of a mandatory stall warning system. It was also alluded to (but not confirmed) that carbon monoxide may have been leaking from the aircraft's exhaust into the cockpit.
This had need noticed on previous flights, to the extent that a warning detector strip had been fitted on the cockpit to warn of high levels of CO. However, the detector strip was destroyed in the post crash fire, so the presence of dangerous levels of CO in the cockpit could not be confirmed.
According to a contemporary newspaper report on the inquest into the six fatalities ("Kentish Express" 6 February 1981):
"Inquest told of tragic take-off
THE plane crash near Ashford airport which killed Eagle parachute boss Captain Alex Black and five passengers was due to the engine stalling. An inquest into last July's tragedy when the aircraft, an Edgar Percival 9 built in 1956, plunged 200 ft into a field just after take-off heard:
- That a stall warning device, which was a requirement of the airworthiness certificate was missing from the aircraft.
- That Capt. Black's one-year medical certificate had been issued in 1976 and not been renewed, and that his pilot's Licence was a year out of date.
- That engineer Tony Ticehurst, 49, who was also killed, should not have been on the flight under air registration rules.
Capt. Black had been due to give parachute lessons to Princess Alexandra's son James Ogilvy during the summer.
The stall, said an expert witness, could have been due to water condensation in a fuel tank because the aircraft had been standing idle under repair.
In addition to Capt Black and Mr Ticehurst the victims were the jump master Leslie Riley, 35, and three German trainee parachutists on a package holiday - two men and a 19-year-old schoolgirl. A verdict of 'accidental death' was returned.
A Department of Trade accident inspector, Mr Andrew Robinson, said he found water in a line linking the carburettor to a fuel pressure gauge and in the accelerator pump chamber. This could cause intermittent cutting of the engine. Of the stall warning device, he said: "It had become loose on mountings some months before the accident and had been removed."
Mr Robinson said engine wear was greater than would be expected in an engine that had completed only 500 hours. This was due to rough handling and poor maintenance in its early life. It had been in storage until 1973.
Capt Black's widow, Mrs Elizabeth Black, of Upper Otterpool, Sellindge, said "I have no idea why his documents were not kept up to date." A Department of Trade official told the inquest that if Capt. Black had applied for a new licence there was no reason why he should not have been issued with one.
Surveyor Mr Charles Webb of Brabourne Lees described the planes last moments and said the engine cut out five or six times.
Parachute instructor George Sugden said he knew there had been problems with the engine for about two months. He agreed that after someone said: "My God, they are in trouble!" he had said: "Why didn't you test it, Alex, before you took them up?"
The Department of Trade has described the crash as Britain's worst civil parachute accident".
Although the aircraft was destroyed by the crash impact, and subsequent post crash fire, the registration G-AOZO was only cancelled by the CAA on 6.5.81 (almost a year later) as aircraft "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. Kentish Express - Friday 6 February 1981 [Report of Inquest into fatalities]
2. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422f1c9ed915d13740003b1/6-1981_G-AOZO.pdf
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AOZO.pdf
4. http://www.northwealdairfieldmuseum.com/upload/AIRCRAFT%20MANUFACTURE.pdf
5. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/163835-ep9.html
6. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-AOZO
7. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/108745/G-AOZO
8. https://www.airteamimages.com/edgar-percival-ep.9_G-AOZO_-private_98146_large.html
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1992.pdf
10. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16733.0
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Sep-2008 01:50 | JINX | Added |
| 02-Sep-2008 01:54 | JINX | Updated |
| 25-Nov-2012 13:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 25-Nov-2012 13:53 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2015 14:11 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2015 14:12 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Embed code] |
| 08-Jul-2017 16:29 | harro | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2018 20:25 | Anon. | Updated [Location] |
| 03-Feb-2018 14:27 | Dick Gilbert | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 24-Jul-2020 14:11 | Bubbles_Barker | Updated [Photo] |
| 26-Jul-2020 20:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 24-Feb-2022 22:36 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 18-Oct-2022 20:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 18-Oct-2022 20:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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