Date:	Wednesday 7 October 2020
Time:	16:20 LT
Type:	Cessna 185A Skywagon
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	G-BLOS
MSN:	185-0359
Year of manufacture:	1962
Engine model:	Continental IO-470-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Pauncefoot Hill, Gardeners Lane, Romsey, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Pauncefoot Hill, Gardeners Lane, Romsey, Hampshire
Destination airport:	Sandown Airport (EGHN)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
AAIB investigation to Cessna 185A Skywagon, G-BLOS: Cessna 185A (G-BLOS), aircraft collided with trees shortly after takeoff Pauncefoot Airstrip, Romsey 7 October 2020. The AAIB Final Report was punlished on 1 July 2021, and the following is an excerpt from it

"The aircraft, a Cessna 185A Skywagon, was kept in a purpose-built hangar at a private airstrip near Romsey in Hampshire, U.K.. The pilot, who co-owned the aircraft, wheeled it out of its hangar and prepared it for a late afternoon flight to Sandown on the Isle of Wight. The wing fuel tanks were full and contained a total of 320 litres (84.5 USG) of Avgas. Having performed the pre‑flight checks, the pilot started the engine before taxiing to the runway. He completed the pre‑takeoff power checks before lining up on the runway for takeoff. He did note that during the engine power checks the propeller control was slow to react at first, but was satisfactory on a second and third check and gave him no further cause for concern. After takeoff the aircraft climbed normally at first with the pilot making a small heading change to the right as was his normal practice. The aircraft then appeared to level and start to gradually descend, with increasing ground speed, heading directly towards the trees.

The pilot has no recollection after the slight heading change but became vaguely aware of foliage passing the cockpit. At this point, the aircraft was striking the tree tops. This had the effect of slowing the aircraft as it descended through the tree canopy. The main portion of both wings detached as the aircraft collided with thicker tree trunks as it descended to the ground. The fuselage and remainder of the loosely attached right wing root were eventually brought to a stop within dense bushes on the ground. The accident site was approximately 1,000 metres from where the pilot had begun the takeoff roll.

Witnesses travelling along a nearby road saw the aircraft disappear into the trees. The emergency services were called, and, with some difficulty, they eventually located and gained access to the wreckage. The seriously injured and semi-conscious pilot was found lying partly out of the aircraft on the ground.

The AAIB investigation concluded that it is likely the pilot became incapacitated shortly after takeoff. This incapacitation meant that the pilot was unaware and/or unable to react to the descent of the aircraft. The aircraft descent began either due to the aircraft not being perfectly in trim for the climb, or as a result of an involuntary movement of the controls by the pilot. Examination of the pilot’s medical records as well as the medical tests undergone after the accident did not show any condition that could have caused an incapacitation. It has therefore not been possible to establish an exact cause for the incapacitation."

=Damage Sustained to Airframe=
Per the above AAIB Report "Wings separated and significant fuselage damage". The damage was presumably severe enough to warrant that the airframe was a "write off", as the registration G-BLOS was cancelled by the CAA (and the airframe de-registered) as "destroyed" on 24 May 2021.

The Private airstrip at Pauncefoot Farm,Gardeners Lane, Romsey, Hampshire is a grass airstrip which is maintained alongside a cereal crop field and stretches from Gardeners Lane to the A3090. The grass airstrip dates back to the 1990s, and was extended (by 2018) to 675 metres in length, orientated 08/26.

1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60d1bb9be90e0743acb7a2d4/Cessna_185A_Skywagon_G-BLOS_08-21.pdf
2. Romsey Advertiser 7 October 2020: https://www.romseyadvertiser.co.uk/news/18782854.woman-urges-good-samaritan-come-forward-helping-man-crashed-romsey/
3. Southampton Daily Echo 7 October 2020: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18779448.man-suffers-serious-injuries-crashing-aircraft-romsey-field/
4. https://mediapigeon.io/newsroom/govuk/releases/en/aaib-report-g-blos-after-takeoff-the-aircraft-lost-altitude-and-crashed-into-woodland-romsey-hampshire-9481
5. G-BLOS History 1984-1986: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-BLOS.pdf
6. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-blos
7. https://www.radarbox.com/data/registration/G-BLOS
8. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-BLOS.html
9. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/LN-BDS.html
10. https://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/ah1900/nr.html
11. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/823457
12. https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Pauncefoot-Farm

Built 1962. Previously registered in Norway as LN-BDS (1962-1984). Re-registered in the UK as G-BLOS on 17 September 1984. Between 17 September 1984 and 14 April 2014, G-BLOS passed through the hands of five succesive owners.

The damage sustained in the incident at Pauncefoot Hill, Gardeners Lane, Romsey, Hampshire on 7 October 2020 was presumably severe enough to warrant that the airframe was a "write off", as the registration G-BLOS was cancelled by the CAA (and the airframe de-registered) as "destroyed" on 24 May 2021. Total amount of flying hours accumulated on the airframe: 5,092 as at 29 May 2020

Photo: AAIB

After takeoff a Cessna 185A Skywagon (G-BLOS) lost altitude and crashed into woodland, Romsey, Hampshire, 7th October 2020.

Read the report: https://t.co/vGFP7ToWRL pic.twitter.com/WbzdKpAKIe

— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) July 1, 2021

G-BLOS: Cessna 185A Skywagon at the New Year's Day Fly-In, Popham, Hampshire (EGHP) 1 January 2019

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Oct-2020 17:02	harro	Added
15-Oct-2020 23:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
15-Oct-2020 23:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
01-Jul-2021 18:10	harro	Updated [Registration, Narrative, Accident report, ]
01-Jul-2021 18:12	harro	Updated [Embed code, Photo, ]
01-Jul-2021 19:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
28-Jul-2021 15:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code, Category, ]
28-Jul-2021 15:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
28-Jul-2021 15:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Damage, ]
28-Jul-2021 15:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, ]
28-Nov-2024 11:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]