Originally Posted by
Jump Complete
Twenty odd years ago I witnessed an accident involving a Stearman at Old Buckingham. I can’t remember the numbers but I was bemused by the amount of emergency vehicles that turned up, including an Incident Control Van, for a minor accident to a light two seat aircraft. I assume a generic response is made to an aircraft accident.
I think you are correct.
The hardest part of 'our' incident was persuading the late arriving police inspector that his advisor, based 150 miles away, was not helping at all. Clearly that person was thinking 'airliner accident', wanting to have an exclusion zone – for fuel leakage and fire risk – and nominate an ‘on scene commander’.
Persuading him that any residual fuel in the aircraft had long since leaked away into the soft soil and that an ‘exclusion zone’ which had both our aircraft and the nearby hangar within it wasn’t much use wasn't easy. All the residual risks – fuel in aircraft and in cans ready for refuelling – were INSIDE the supposed zone. Not helpful or useful. Our friendly policeman also repositioned one of the fire engines onto the soft patch we‘d pointed out earlier. So that added the fun of winching a hefty fire engine out, doing much more damage than the aircraft had ! Still, no doubt he meant well, just didn’t listen. Maybe I needed a fancy hat or jacket…