ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 55584
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| Date: | Tuesday 10 April 1973 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1 |
| Owner/operator: | Hawker Siddley Aviation |
| Registration: | XV276 |
| MSN: | DB.1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Baynards Estate, Home farm, Baynards, Cranleigh, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Dunsfold Aerodrome, Dunsfold, Alford, Surrey [EGTD] |
| Dunsfold Aerodrome, Dunsfold, Alford, Surrey [EGTD] | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
XV276 was the first of the development batch of six Harriers (XV276-281), hence the c/no "DB.1", and first flew at Dunsfold on 31/8/1966.
Written off 10/4/1973: On the afternoon of this day it was being flown by a Swiss pilot, Lt. Col. H.Stauffer, as the Swiss Air Force was considering the acquisition of the type. Stauffer took off, to fly a circuit, but two minutes into that flight, on the downwind leg, unintentionally pulled the throttle too far back and thus cut the engine. Instead of pushing the throttle forward, and restarting the engine, at only 300 feet he chose to eject. Despite the low height, he did so successfully and safely, emerging uninjured. He successfully ejected at 300 ft at 220 knots with the aircraft attitude 10 deg nose down and with 10 deg left bank
However the Harrier plunged onto farmland, on the Baynards estate, Cranleigh, Surrey, and was destroyed by fire. Stauffer believed that the fault lay with the Harrier's engine. Hawker Siddeley did not agree. It recorded the cause of the crash as: 'Pilot error. Pilot stop-cocked engine at low level'. It may not surprise anyone to learn that the Swiss Air Force did not place an order for the Harrier!
Baynards Park is a 2,000 acres (810 ha) estate and site of a demolished country house with extant outbuildings, privately owned, in the south of the parishes of Cranleigh and Ewhurst, Surrey.
Sources:
1. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=51123&page=2 (Post # 37)
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20170421174927/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/1973.htm
3. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1973.htm
4. http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1474579/
5. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19316.0
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
7. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/242480/XV276 [XV276 at RAF Abingdon 15.6.68]
8. https://dunsfoldairfield.org/peacetime-aircraft-accidents/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baynards_Park
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Jun-2011 22:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Aug-2011 00:46 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Cn, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Jul-2015 23:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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