Date:	Thursday 17 September 2020
Time:	15:10 UTC
Type:	Westland Scout AH.1
Owner/operator:	AAC Historic Flight Trust
Registration:	G-CIBW
MSN:	F.9632
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Minor
Category:	Serious incident
Location:	West Dean, 7 miles East of Salisbury, Wiltshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Middle Wallop Airport (EGVP)
Destination airport:	Middle Wallop Airport (EGVP)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
AAIB investigation to Westland Scout AH1, G-CIBW: Loss of door window in flight, West Dean, Salisbury, Wiltshire, 17 September 2020. The incident was the subject of an AAIB Investigation, published on 14 January 2021, ands the following is an excerpt from it:

"Synopsis
The helicopter was flying straight and level at approximately 100 Knots IAS when the pilot heard a loud bang. It immediately became apparent that the fixed upper window in the left door had fallen out, leaving the rubber retaining grommet in place. The helicopter was above fields at the time of the event and the pilot carried out a brief airborne search of the area but was unable to locate the window. The helicopter returned to Middle Wallop Airfield without further incident.

The subsequent examination of the door and window frame found that the rubber window retaining grommet had perished. The grommet incorporates ridges and channels designed to attach and hold the window into its frame. Approximately 200 mm of the central ridge on the grommet had separated allowing the window to be ‘loosened by the airflow’, causing it to fall out of its frame. No other damage to the helicopter was reported".

Damage Sustained to airframe
Per the AAIB Report: "Rubber retaining grommet perished, allowing the window in the door to fall out in flight". The helicopter landed safely back at Middle Wallop Airfield, and the damage was repaired.

West Dean is a village and civil parish in southeast Wiltshire, England; the Wiltshire/Hampshire border runs through the eastern part of the village. The village is on the River Dun, about 7 miles (11 km) east of Salisbury and the same distance northwest of Romsey.

1. AAIB Report 14 January 2021: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd8a91ae90e071bde8ec00b/Westland_Scout_AH1_G-CIBW_01-21.pdf
2. https://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XT
3. https://haaf.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Westland-Scout.pdf
4. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/6521/
5. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/XT626.html
6. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-CIBW.html
7. https://www.radarbox.com/data/registration/G-CIBW
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Dean,_Wiltshire

Built 1965 for the Army Air Corps as XT626, delivered as such 28 February 1966. According to the Army Air Corps Museum, the official history of XT626 from 1965 to 2013 was as follows:
\"XT626 served from 1965 until the late 1980s, seeing out its service with the Territorial Army at Netheravon. She has continued to fly with the Historic Army Aircraft Flight at Middle Wallop since then.
1965 – Built at Westland Helicopters, Yeovil, Somerset.
28 February 1966 - delivered to Army Air Corps and taken on charge at Middle Wallop
30 October 1974 - Westland Trials Flight, noted at Wroughton, undergoing modifications to carry SS.11 missiles.
March 1982 - 656 Squadron AAC RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire.
29 July 2007 - 666 (TAVR) Squadron AAC badge, in 50th anniversary marks on the Beach Gardens at Weston-super-Mare for Helidays 2007\".

First civil regsitered as G-CIBW on 11 October 2013 to the Ministry of Defence (Army Historic Air Flight), Middle Wallop, Hampshire. Re-registered 27 March 2015 to the Historic Aircraft Flight Trust, Middle Wallop.Call sign for this aircraft: \"ARMYWG26\" and \"HISTQR05\"

After the incident at West Dean, Salibury, Wiltshire on 17 September 2020, G-CIBW (which retains it original miliatry markings as XT626/\"Q\" of 666 Squadron, Army Air Corps) was repaired and returned to service. Total amount of flying hours accumulated on the airframe: 5,019 as at 14 July 2022.

XT626/G-CIBW: Westland Scout AH.1 on static display at "Legoland", Windsor, Berkshire 6 July 2020

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Nov-2024 18:51	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Nov-2024 18:51	ASN	Updated [Accident report, ]
13-May-2025 16:47	Awat	Updated [Total fatalities, Country, ]
13-May-2025 17:08	Anon.	Updated [Country, ]