ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 18698
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| Date: | Sunday 2 September 1973 |
| Time: | 14:22 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk 22A |
| Owner/operator: | Claude Samuel Leonard Moore |
| Registration: | G-ARCR |
| MSN: | C1/0277 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Windlesham, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Woking, Surrey (EGTF) |
| Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, Woking, Surrey (EGTF) | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 2/9/1973 when crashed at Windlesham, Surrey. 34 year old Claude Moore was the owner of Chipmunk G-ARCR, which he based at Fairoaks Airfield. On 2 September 1973 he arrived at the airfield and went to the flying club bar. He remained there for the next two hours, in the course of which he consumed about five pints of beer, resulting in him having a blood/alcohol level of 109mg per 100ml. Then he decided to fly. Maybe because different social attitudes prevailed at that time, there is no record of anyone trying to stop him. He asked for the Chipmunk to be brought from the hangar. It was. He then booked out for a local flight. No-one demurred. His passenger, who had been with him in the flying club bar, didn't decline his offer of a flight. Thus the two took off from Fairoaks and flew in the direction of Windlesham, where friends of Mr Moore lived.
When the Chipmunk arrived over Windlesham, Mr Moore flew low, circling the village, presumably searching for his friends' house. The friends must have spotted the aircraft as they apparently signalled to it, from a field close to their house, using a mirror to flash sunlight. Mr Moore then made a low level pass over that field, at an altitude of about forty feet, rocking the wings of the Chipmunk to acknowledge his friends' signal. Then, presumably with the intention of making a return pass over the field, he pulled the Chipmunk up into a steep banking turn. He continued to pull up until the Chipmunk was climbing almost vertically (and, seemingly, on the point of a stall). On reaching an altitude of about two to three hundred feet, the Chipmunk dived back toward the field, an ill advised move from such a low altitude. Being too low to get out of such a manoeuvre safely, the inevitable occurred. With a high descent rate, the Chipmunk hit the field, with considerable force, bounced and hit the ground again some 120 feet on. Fortunately the aircraft didn't overturn or catch fire (on the first impact the Chipmunk's undercarriage was torn away, rupturing and emptying the wing fuel tanks before the second impact) but it suffered severe damage.
Helpers - perhaps Mr Moore's Windlesham friends - were quickly on the scene. They released the passenger, who had suffered serious injuries, but Mr Moore was dead. It seems that his harness was not fully tightened because, on impact, his head was able to be thrown forward and strike the instrument panel. But according to the medical evidence, it was not that blow that killed him. He died of the inhalation of his own blood resulting from the facial injuries he suffered when his head hit the instrument panel.
The AIB investigated the accident and reported the following year. No latent defect to the Chipmunk was found. Nor was there any evidence of in-flight damage. Neither was there any suggestion of Mr Moore having been trying to make an emergency landing in the field at Windlesham. The cause of the crash was the fact that semi-aerobatic manoeuvres were being made at too low an altitude to provide any margin for error or recovery. This was an error of judgement, born of over confidence (which, in itself, may well have been induced by alcohol), on the part of Mr Moore and one for which he paid the highest price. The AIB gave the cause of the accident to be as follows:
'The accident resulted from a flying error during a very steeply banked climbing turn manoeuvre which was being made at too low a height to permit recovery from the ensuing dive. The pilot's skill and judgement were impaired by alcohol.'
Registration G-ARCR formally cancelled by the UK Civil Aviation Authority 13/2/1975 as "aircraft destroyed". G-ARCR was ex-RAF Chipmunk WD336, later registered in Ireland as EI-AJF
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f45e40f0b6134200047f/19-1974_G-ARCR.pdf
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARCR-1.pdf
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARCR-2.pdf
4. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WD
5. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-ARCR
6. http://www.ukserials.com/prodlists.php?type=343
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16790.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 12-Nov-2011 17:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Jun-2013 23:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Jul-2015 21:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 30-Mar-2020 21:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 30-Mar-2020 21:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
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