ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 175132
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| Date: | Friday 26 September 1997 |
| Time: | 14:13 |
| Type: |  Fournier RF-5B |
| Owner/operator: | Nuthampstead G-BAPA Group |
| Registration: | G-BAPA |
| MSN: | 51025 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | North Weald Airfield, North Weald Bassett, Epping Forest, Essex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | North Weald, Essex (EGSX) |
| Biggin Hill Airport, Kent (BQH/EGKB) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) 26 September 1997: crashed and caught fire when one wing folded up on take off run at North Weald Airfield, North Weald Bassett, Epping Forest, Essex. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"No one saw the pilot conduct her pre-flight preparation and it was only some time later that one of the workers saw the aircraft as it taxied past his office on the way to Runway 02. He stated that the sound of the engine and the appearance of the aircraft had seemed normal. Just prior to take off, the pilot contacted Air Traffic Control to report that she was ready for departure. She was cleared for take-off, with a surface wind of 070 degrees/10 knots.
An aircraft engineer, who was near a hangar close to the runway, saw the aircraft during its take-off run and noticed the outer section of the right wing start to pivot upwards as the speed increased. The wing continued pivoting upwards and through 90 degrees as the aircraft rolled right after lift-off.
Another witness, on the western side of the airfield, had his attention drawn by the sound of the aircraft taking off and recognised the aircraft as a Fournier. He saw it as it reached a height of approximately 10 feet agl and stated that the left wing appeared normal, but the right wing was folded into the stowed position. He reported that the aircraft had climbed a further 10 feet before 'flipping onto its back, from left to right', before striking the ground inverted and bursting into flames.
After the impact, several witnesses attended the crash site and attempted to extinguish the fire and rescue the pilot. Unfortunately their hand held fire extinguishers could not extinguish the fire and they were not able to save the pilot. ATC recorded the time of the accident at 14:13 hours and alerted the emergency services immediately".
The AAIB report confirms that the aircraft was "destroyed"; as result, the registration G-BAPA was cancelled by the CAA on 20 May 1998 as "Permanently withdrawn from use".
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/fournier-rf5b-g-bapa-26-september-1997
2. CAA: http://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/
3. http://www.club-fournier.de/dev/rf5b-g-bapa/
4. http://www.mmillar.plus.com/Gallery/UK_aircraft/picture12.jpg
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Apr-2015 00:58 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 06-Apr-2015 00:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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