Date:	Thursday 6 July 2023
Time:	c. 19:45
Type:	Piper PA-23-250 Aztec E
Owner/operator:	Private
Registration:	G-BKJW
MSN:	27-4716
Year of manufacture:	1971
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Bagby Airfield (EGNG), Hambleton, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Dowth Hall Airstrip, Dowth, Co. Meath, Ireland
Destination airport:	Bagby Airfield (EGNG)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
A Piper PA-23-250 Aztec E crashed 6 July 2023 near Bagby Airfield (EGNG), Hambleton, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire. The 21 year old pilot died and the aircraft was destroyed. As per the eyewitness report from "Air Yorkshire" magazine (August 2023 issue p.,17):

"BAGBY (NY) Sadly, on the evening of 6.7, G-BKJW PA-23 crashed with one fatality on final approach to Bagby at 19.45hrs, I believe this was a recent new resident. It was inbound from Ireland when the accident occurred".

On 13 September 2023, North Yorkshire Police announced that serious criminal charges of manslaughter had been brought against three individuals in connection with the crash.

UPDATE: The AAIB published the final report into the incident on Thursday 14 August 2025 (see link #1) and the following is the summary from the AAIB Final Report:

"The pilot had departed Bagby airfield in the morning and flown to Deauville in France where he collected five passengers and delivered them to Abbeyshrule in Ireland. The accident occurred at the end of the return flight to Bagby, with the pilot the sole occupant of the aircraft. After the pilot made a normal radio call to Bagby to say that he was four miles from the airfield, the aircraft was seen on radar and CCTV to join right base for Runway 06. The CCTV video showed the aircraft’s descent angle start to steepen while it was on right base. There was then a slight reduction in descent angle before the descent angle steepened sharply and the aircraft struck trees and then the ground at an angle of about 35° to 40° nose-down, with no indication that the aircraft was starting to recover. The ground impact caused a fire, and the accident was not survivable.

The post-impact fire destroyed a significant amount of physical evidence, but that which remained contained no identifiable defects that could have caused or contributed to the nose-dive. The one anomaly found was the position of the pitch trim drum which was 3 mm from the full nose-down position. Evidence from a flight trial on the same type of aircraft revealed that this was more nose-down than would be expected for any flap configuration in the speed range determined from the CCTV. However, the possibility of the trim having moved during the post-impact break-up could not be discounted, so other theories of what could have caused the final nose-dive were considered. Of all the causes reviewed, a pitch trim runaway was considered to be the most likely, but there was insufficient evidence to determine that it was the definitive cause of the accident.

In conducting the investigation, it was apparent that although occurrences of pitch trim runaway are rare, when they do occur the results can easily be catastrophic, particularly if it occurs at low altitude where there is limited time to respond. Irrespective of whether a pitch trim runaway was the cause of the accident to G-BKJW, the investigation identified ways to reduce the risk of such an event. Consequently, the CAA plan eight safety actions which concern:

1: Training for a pitch trim runaway.
2: Deactivating inoperative autopilots.
3: Making autopilot and electric trim circuit breakers more visible.
4: Providing clearer information regarding differences training requirements.

Damage Sustained to airframe
Per the AAIB Report "Aircraft destroyed and burnt". As a result of the incident at Bagby on 6 July 2023, G-BJKW was destroyed and the registration was cancelled (with the airframe being de-registered) by the CAA on 19 July 2023 just two weeks later. Total amount of flying hours accumulated on the airframe: 6,310 as at 25 May 2023

1. AAIB Final Report 14 August 2025: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6859549cf05cab1603ade629/Piper_PA-23-250_G-BKJW_08-25.pdf
2. https://news.sky.com/story/bagby-airfield-man-in-his-20s-confirmed-dead-after-light-aircraft-crash-in-north-yorkshire-12916755
3. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22964078/plane-crash-thirsk-at-least-one-dead/
4. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66130906
5. https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023-07-07/plane-destroyed-after-crashing-into-field
6. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/GBKJW/history/20230706/1742Z
7. https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/news/north-yorkshire/news/news/2023/07-july/investigation-into-fatal-light-aircraft-crash/
8. https://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=123835
9. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66799987
10. https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023-09-13/three-arrested-over-death-of-young-pilot-in-plane-crash
12. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/bagby-airfield-three-men-arrested-for-manslaughter-after-pilot-21-was-killed-in-yorkshire-light-aircraft-crash-4334720
13. AAIB 1st Anniversary Statement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/anniversary-statement-piper-pa-23-250-g-bkjw-6-july-2023
14. "Air Yorkshire" magazine (August 2023 issue p.,17): https://magazines.airyorkshire.org.uk/Air.Yorkshire.August.2023.pdf.
15. G-BJKW History 1978-1994: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-BKJW.pdf
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagby#Airfield

Built 1971. First registered in the United States as N14153 from 1971 to 6 October 1978, latterly to Flammersfield Aviation, Fairfax, Virginia. US registration cancelled 6 October 1978, and re-registered in the UK as G-BJKW on 3 November 1978 to Allan Williams Entertainments Ltd (with a minor re-registration on 20 December 1994 due to change of address of registered owner). Officially was unregistered (although with the same owner) between 3 May and 20 December 1994 when the registration temporarily lapsed.

Reregistered to the 3rd owner on 3 September 2019, then the 4th (and, as events turned out, final) owner on 21 April 2022 (with a one week gap from 14 to 21 April 2022 when the registration again temporarily lapsed)

As a result of the incident at Bagby on 6 July 2023, G-BJKW was destroyed and the registration was cancelled (with the airframe being de-registered) by the CAA on 19 July 2023 just two weeks later. Total amount of flying hours accumulated on the airframe: 6,310 as at 25 May 2023

Other occurrences involving this aircraft


28 September 2012	G-BKJW	Alan Williams Entertainments Ltd	0	Southend Airport (EGMC)		min
Gear collapse

The AAIB has published a report into a fatal accident involving a Piper PA-23-250 (G-BKJW), 1 nm south-west of Bagby Airfield, North Yorkshire, 6 July 2023https://t.co/WLKJzm7UTT #Aviation #AviationSafety

— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) June 26, 2025

Investigation update ?

We have made three arrests in connection with the light aircraft crash which occurred on Thursday 06 July 2023 at Bagby Airfield near Thirsk.

Sadly, a man in his 20s lost his life following the incident.

See our update here https://t.co/55OC98OaLp pic.twitter.com/GA2QrSDLw8

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) September 13, 2023

Investigation into fatal aircraft crash ⬇

Last night we received a report that a light aircraft had come down in a field near Bagby Airfield, Thirsk.

There's more information here: https://t.co/gBNPrcPat3

Thank you to residents for their patience while we work at the scene. pic.twitter.com/g2QOWEls9F

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) July 7, 2023

Piper PA-23-250 Aztec E at Blackbushe (EGLK) 8-3-2020

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Jul-2023 01:07	Geno	Added
07-Jul-2023 13:18	Anon.	Updated
07-Jul-2023 13:18	gerard57	Updated
07-Jul-2023 13:40	Aerossurance	Updated
07-Jul-2023 13:47	RobertMB	Updated
07-Jul-2023 14:44	harro	Updated
13-Sep-2023 14:25	harro	Updated
14-Sep-2023 11:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated
14-Sep-2023 11:56	harro	Updated
05-Jul-2024 08:44	Aerossurance	Updated [Source, ]
14-Oct-2024 17:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
04-Jul-2025 14:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code, ]
15-Aug-2025 09:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]