ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 55059
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| Date: | Thursday 8 August 1991 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Westland Puma HC.1 (SA 330E) |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) |
| Registration: | ZA941 |
| MSN: | WA1659 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 1 mi S of Camp de Canjeurs AB -
 France
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | BA Camp de Canjuers |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Lost control and crashed into trees during post maintenance flight.
The aircraft had been conducting "Hot and High" trials on the guidance systems for the then experimental Brimstone missile.
After maintenance was carried out on the hydraulic power pack the aircraft was taken for a flight test to carry out further leak checks under operational conditions.
Apart from the chief engineer, I was the only member of the engineering team on the ground, and I went up to the landing area, which was on a French Army base mountain plateau, to marshal them in.
Approximately 20 or 30 seconds from touchdown the aircraft suddenly banked to it's left, descended rapidly, and disappeared from sight. It hit the side of the mountain, and then rolled to the bottom of the valley.
It came to rest on its right side in a dried river bed, the crew both managed to escape the crash, and managed to get away from the wreckage to a safer area. The two engineers on board were not "strapped in" and did not survive the rolling down the mountain, this was backed up by the crew stating that they heard no sounds from the cabin after they came to rest. Subsequent investigations showed this to be true as both were completely dismembered, and could only be identified by the contents of their stomachs.
The aircraft subsequently caught fire and burned before rescuers could reach it through the thick gorse bushes surrounding the area, which took about 4 hours.
At the coroners enquiry, the crew stated that there was a sudden uncontrolled bank to the left, and they were unable to correct it, no actual cause of the accident was ever proved, as the fire was so intense that it was burned almost to powder, due to the magnesium content of the main gearbox.
Sources:
1. Flight International 13-19 May 1992
2. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1991.htm
3. Phil Wrend, Contract Avionic Technician on site. Only ground based witness to the crash.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Jan-2009 11:51 | harro | Updated |
| 24-Feb-2010 02:56 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Jun-2012 08:32 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Jan-2013 14:37 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
| 19-Jan-2013 12:53 | TB | Updated [Operator] |
| 06-Dec-2016 21:48 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 06-Mar-2017 13:31 | TB | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 30-Jul-2017 07:51 | djweeble | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 24-Dec-2018 12:51 | Anon. | Updated [Departure airport] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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