Crash near Churt/ Frensham

[wrecker]

A short clip reporting this on the local news last night (sunday) any further information available?

[ifonly]

Elderly pilot cut free after plane crash in Churt - Get Surrey (http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/elderly-pilot-cut-free-after-7627757)

[A and C]

I'm quite impressed with the way that the aircraft remained largely intact after this accident however I doubt that the "massive bang" reported by the newspaper was quite as massive as they report.

[funfly]

What a horrible place to come down in

[Jan Olieslagers]

Seeing the images, and consulting G-INFO, it would seem to be G-DEWY? Those P300's seem to be in a lot of accidents, these days.

[edit: reg confirmed at http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=168826 ]

[phiggsbroadband]

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It looks like he descended vertically downwards, inverted, and backwards, with most of the damage to the trailing edge of the wings.
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Nice bit of flying !!
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[PA28181]

Thats a bit of a shock, I have know Bill Dewy for a long time now. A good ex RAF Hunter pilot too, so hope to get details later.

[Above The Clouds]

Looking at the pictures it's remarkable to come away with only serious injuries that are not life threatening, especially where it has landed.

[Mariner9]

Gear is down I note so presumably had just departed or was about to land somewhere. (POH specifies gear up for forced landing)

[mad_jock]

by the sounds of this the gent did what he though was the safest option and ignored the POH.

Having flown a lot in areas with out much flat bits but loads of trees it was always a debate what you would do in the event.

Mine and a few others opinion was that you would fly down and stall and pancake into the springy tops of the trees into wind giving as low a ground speed as possible.

Gear down to give you something else to absorb energy with.

We reckoned on your average forestry commission plot the trees would be that dense that you would end up sitting amongst the tops.

As none of us has ever had to put the theory to test we don't know if it is correct or not.

[Saab Dastard]

fly down and stall and pancake into the springy tops of the trees into wind giving as low a ground speed as possible.
Ah yes, the well-known "Biggles" technique! ;)

SD

[mad_jock]

That made me laugh, thanks Saab.

Looks like he might have gone for it here as well. Then once he came to rest the trees weren't close enough to support it and it slipped backwards through the foliage and flipped while doing so. .

[FleetFlyer]

In case any of you are wondering, there is a private strip very nearby the crash site. One isn't permitted to do circuits there and its possible that this may have had a bearing on events.

Also, I too am a proponent of the 'Biggles Technique' for pancaking onto the treetops. Having said that though, I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to wag a finger and remind us all that we should not be flying over un-landable terrain without sufficient height to glide clear.

[Rod1]

"wag a finger and remind us all that we should not be flying over un-landable terrain without sufficient height to glide clear. "

Which EASA regulation is that then?:E

Rod1

[Pilot DAR]

Having said that though, I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to wag a finger and remind us all that we should not be flying over un-landable terrain without sufficient height to glide clear.

Hmmm, well, Prairies, and southern Ontario aside, I'd have to fly at about 100,000 feet over the rest of Canada to be able to glide to "landable terrain" on wheels. Hence my liking of the amphibious flying boat - lakes really open up the choices a lot!

[360BakTrak]

Is the pilot the same chap that used to own Grob 109 G-UILD by any chance?

[PA28181]

Yes he is.

[ChrisVJ]

Disclaimer. I haven't landed an aircraft in trees and I'm not an expert. (Though flying around here I have worried about it a lot!)

Way back when I first subscribed to Pprune there was quite a discussion about landing in trees technique, and another about ditching.

I recall very well that the recommendation from those who were experts was to fly the aircraft into the trees rather than trying to stall in.

The same for ditching. Apparently the statistics showed that aircraft flown onto the water very rarely turtled, mostly they bobbed and ended up somewhat nose down on the surface until they sank.

[India Four Two]

Hence my liking of the amphibious flying boat - lakes really open up the choices a lot!
I agree. I've always felt much more comfortable flying in the Rockies on floats rather than wheels. Even if there is not a suitable lake nearby, the outcome of landing on an Alpine meadow with floats would probably be better than landing with wheels.

[360BakTrak]

Yes he is.

Met him a few times when I worked at Blackbushe many years ago, very nice chap. I hope he's ok & gets well soon.