Date:	Wednesday 26 March 2025
Time:	16:00 BST
Type:	Dassault Falcon 20E
Owner/operator:	Draken Europe
Registration:	G-FRAD
MSN:	304
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Tregaswith, Cornwall -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Banner and glider towing
Departure airport:	Bournemouth International Airport (BOH/EGHH)
Destination airport:	Newquay-Cornwall Airport (NQY/EGHQ)
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
The Dassault Falcon 20E, operating on a routine target towing exercise for the Royal Navy, lost the target over Tregaswith, Cornwall, close to Newquay Airport. The aircraft was diverting to Newquay as the winch cable had jammed.

According to the CAA AAIB, in its interim report dated 20 May 2025:

"Aircraft suffered a target cable jam, the target struck a house as the aircraft was on its final approach to land near Newquay Airport"

As reported by several sources, including the BBC and ITV News

"Woman's bathroom 'destroyed' after object falls from aircraft near Newquay
A woman has described her terror after her house was struck by an object being towed by an aircraft in Cornwall.

The object, believed to be a "very heavy piece of lead" fell from the sky above Tregaswith, near Saint Columb Major, at around 4pm on 26 March. Nobody was hurt, but it smashed into the bathroom of a family home causing significant damage.

Draken, an American provider of tactical fighter aircraft, has taken accountability for the incident. It says it recognises the severity of what happened and is liaising with those affected. Nic Anderson, CEO of Draken, said the "cable and target dislodged from the aircraft and landed in a field, regrettably damaging two properties". He added that all target towing has been suspended and that the company is "very sorry".

Sue Rundle, whose home was struck, said: "An aeroplane came over just before four o'clock. It was one of the aeroplanes which was carrying a cable with a target on the bottom, which they use for military exercises. Obviously, it was too low as it came over my house - it had been diverted to Newquay Airport because it had reported a problem, the winch wasn't working so they couldn't retract the cable. It came over my house and obviously too low, so it went through my roof, destroying part of my roof, all the bathroom, lots of damage inside and was absolutely horrifically frightening."

She added: "It was horrendous. Suddenly, there were slates falling and I thought 'what on Earth is going on?' So, I went back inside the house and then everything collapsed upstairs and the noise was horrendous. I just didn't know what was happening at all and when I looked, I had a gaping hole in the roof. The bathroom was completely destroyed, concrete was everywhere and I just stood there and froze and thought, 'what do I do?'"

Sue called her son and her neighbour to help her find out what had happened. They then found a "very, very heavy piece of lead in the bathroom in amongst all the concrete, which was so heavy we could hardly lift it - and we decided that's what had fallen from the plane. But at the time, we didn't know what had fallen from the plane, we didn't know whether it was a bomb, a piece of metal, we didn't know anything."

Draken's Nic Anderson said: "At approximately 4pm on Wednesday 26 March one of our aircraft was carrying out a routine exercise over the sea involving towing a target on a cable behind the aircraft. The mechanism to control the target cable malfunctioned. The aircraft crew carried out back-up procedures to release the target and cable from the aircraft safely over the sea, which were not successful. Realising they were unable to detach the target, the crew contacted Air Traffic Control to declare an emergency and sought to land at the nearest diversion airfield at Cornwall Airport, Newquay".

"During the diversion and on approach to the airport, the cable and target dislodged from the aircraft and landed in a field, regrettably damaging two properties. Fortunately, no one was injured. Draken is very sorry that this incident has occurred and offer our sincere apologies to those affected by it. He continued: "We have stopped all target towing activity and will not resume until we are satisfied the system is safe to operate."

It led to officers from Devon and Cornwall Police being called to the scene, along with the fire service. But the force has said that government-body the Air Accident Investigation Branch will lead on the investigation.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Just after 5pm on Wednesday 26 March officers from Devon and Cornwall Police and colleagues from Cornwall Fire and Rescue attended a residential address near Newquay following reports of an item falling from an aircraft causing damage to the property. Nobody was injured as a result of this incident. An investigation has been opened and is in its early stages. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch have been made aware."

Sue believes it was a "freak accident" but now has lots of questions about this could have happened and why the plane was not diverted over the sea or had the cable cut off. A second object, which Sue has described as a "big piece of plastic...a dummy missile" landed in a nearby tree while hundreds of metres of cable landed in a neighbour's field. She added that she's grateful that nobody was hurt but joked that "at the moment, I really don't want to see any aeroplanes".

A spokesperson for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: “The AAIB is aware of an incident which occurred in the Newquay area yesterday. "We are making enquiries to understand more about the circumstances.”

Following the incident, a spokesperson for Cornwall Airport Newquay, said: "The airport safely accommodated the landing of a military aircraft needing to abort an exercise. The aircraft, which was engaged in a training operation, followed standard procedures and landed without incident. Safety is always our top priority, and today’s successful handling of the situation is a testament to the professionalism of our team and demonstrates the airport’s capability to handle a range of aviation scenarios."

Tregaswith (grid reference SW894626) is a hamlet in the parish of St Columb Major, Cornwall. It is situated to the south-west of the town of St Columb, and just south of the A3059 main road between St Columb and Newquay. The hamlet is about 1 mile from St Mawgan airfield.

1. https://bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/accident-to-a-dassault-falcon-20-on-26-03-2025-near-newquay-ad/
2. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-frad#39a0fabc
3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4vjwlgg0jo
4. https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2025-03-27/horrifically-frightening-house-damaged-after-object-falls-from-aircraft
5. https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/womans-toilet-smashes-bits-plane-10066471
6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0l0q910
7. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/27/dummy-missile-drops-property-military-plane-winch-breaks/
8. https://hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/cornwall/news/malfunctioned-mechanism-cornwall-military-exercise
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newquay_Airport
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tregaswith

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Apr-2025 14:27	ASN	Added
06-Apr-2025 06:47	Anon.	Updated [Source, ]
06-Apr-2025 06:52	ASN	Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Narrative, ]
12-Apr-2025 14:37	Aerossurance	Updated [Phase, Nature, Narrative, ]
21-May-2025 08:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]