ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25006
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| Date: | Wednesday 20 August 1980 |
| Time: | 16:30 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain |
| Owner/operator: | Group Lotus Car Companies |
| Registration: | G-LCCO |
| MSN: | 31-7812082 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Earl Stonham, 5 miles E of Stowmarket, Suffolk -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Stapleford, Essex (EGSG) |
| Hethel, Norfolk | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Earl Stonham, 5 miles East of Stowmarket, Suffolk on 20/8/1980. Per the official AAIB report into the crash, G-LCCO dived towards the ground at high speed, and was seen to break up in the air at 2,500 feet. It was reported that the engines separated from the wings, and the wings from the fuselage.
The pilot, who was the sole person on board, was killed; the aircraft was returning to its base at Hethel, Norfolk, from Stapleford, Essex, where it been undergoing an overhaul
("Sadly he perished when both engines detached from the airframe at some stage on the way round a loop. I recall the engines were separate from wreckage of the rest of the aircraft. The AAIB were able to compute the amount of "G" that was pulled which was well beyond the normal limits.NEVER do aerobatics in an aircraft which is not approved to do such maneuvers").
It was concluded by the AAIB that the accident was caused by the pilot attempting to recover from a dive, whilst flying at a speed considerably in excess of the aircraft's permitted maximum. The excessive speed resulted from the loss of control of the aircraft, most probably following an attempt to perform a prohibited aerobatic manoeuvre. Specifically the pilot attempted to loop the Piper PA-31, which is aircraft is not designed to do.
Damage to airframe: Although the AAIB report confirms that "the aircraft was destroyed by the combined effects of break-up in the air, and the subsequent post-impact fire", the registration G-LCCO was only belatedly cancelled by the CAA as "destroyed" 5/12/1983 - three years later.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422edf9e5274a13170001d9/7-1981_G-LCCO.pdf
2. CAA: https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-LCCO.pdf
3. http://www.scramble.nl/civil-database/details?bt=pa&af=2971
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20170804205217/http://www.baaa-acro.com:80/1980/archives/crash-of-a-piper-pa-31-navajo-chieftain-in-united-kingdom-1-killed-2/
5. https://www.pprune.org/private-flying/469924-loopy-tommie-2.html#post6830258
Media:
Piper PA-31-325 Navajo C/R G-LCCO (31-7812082) #LotusCars #JohnPlayer @OxfordAirportUK 1979 #SuNavajoDayUK #JPS pic.twitter.com/HxXIKmgtlE
— Aviation Hub (@Aviation_Hub) May 10, 2015Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 22-Dec-2012 18:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 19-May-2013 12:54 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2015 14:25 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 23-Oct-2015 14:30 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 23-Oct-2015 14:36 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 23-Oct-2015 15:40 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2017 18:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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