Huw Forrester Brown

[ATCO17]

Does anyone out there remember Huw Forrester Brown, a New Zealander who was sadly killed in an accident at Southend on Sea in, I think, 1986?

[Stan Woolley]

Yes I was a friend of Huw and flew the aircraft just before his accident.

PM me if you like.

[rightbank]

I didn't know Huw, but the crash site was around half a mile from where I used to live. When they rebuilt the garage that the aircraft crashed into, they put up a memorial plaque. However the garage has been refurbished this year and the plaque seems to have gone. Am not sure if it has been moved, but when I last looked it was not in its original position.

[EBCAU]

I was amazed to see this posting after so many years. This is not a forum that I generally frequent - purely by boredom and fate did I stumble across it.

I think it is actually 19 yrs since Hugh's spectacular departure - I am fairly certain 1986 was the last time I saw him, and the accident was in 1987, but I stand to be corrected.

If any of you can inform me of circumstances, and the technical causes of the accident, I would appreciaite that. On the other side of the world I never did learn the real cause. Everything I heard was from non flying family sources so was probably more emotional than factual.

The tragedy had a real touch of irony for me. Hugh was greatly taken by Ernest K Gann's book, 'Fate is the Hunter.' If you can find that book it is a great read for any pilot. The irony is that Hugh gave up the ag flying life to take what he thought would be a safer form of aviation, given that he had a young son. It was perhaps that change of direction that lead to his demise - but fate truly is the hunter.

So RIP Hugo. You may be long gone but obviously I am not the only one that hasn't forgotten.

[rightbank]

Going past the site of Hugh's crash recently I noticed from the plaque that today is the 25th anniversary of his death, so for those that may be interested I have attached a photo of it.




http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/r554/pilotpedro/9d518c44.jpg


The plaque, which was originally attached to the wall of the garage when they rebuilt it after the crash, is now attached to the fence adjoining the property next door although on the garage side, and near the footpath. The garage has now closed and the premises empty. I've heard a rumour that it is to become a supermarket (Asda?) Hopefully the new owners will keep the plaque in place.

RIP

A thankyou to the mods for re-opening the thread to allow me to post.

[McDoo]

Can it really be 25 years? I Was on the same KingAir initial course as Hugh and was flying that night too. Horrible rough weather, knackered badly maintained aircraft and then it was legal to fly five multi sector nights in a row, single crew under considerable commercial pressure.

The accident was caused by a failure of the diaphragm in the FCU. Something that the company was supposed to have performed a fleet wide inspection of after an identical failure killed another pilot during a go - around manoeuvre at East Midlands just a few weeks previously. Both Hugh and Ron were excellent handling pilots with many more hours experience than a lot of others in the company at that time.

Two great guys who were victims of the culture in those days. I consider myself lucky to have got through unscathed and would love to say that such operators are not around today, however.....

McD.

[Bravohotel]

I knew Hugh very well when he leart to fly in Masteron NZ,a bit of lad he was,when he was a loader driver for Feildair I remember the story when he was loading the Ag DC3 down in the South Island with Mike Cronin and they had a company cheque book and one night at the local pub Hugh wrote a cheque for a million dollars and the pub owner got one back on them by presenting it at his bank the next morning I understand the pub owner and the bank manager were mates and the bank manager rang Hughs boss in Palmerston North,all hell broke out but they got away with it this time. Another thing Hugh did was climb out of the back (behind the hopper) of a FU24 Flectcher through the small rear door and climb up onto the wing and tap on the outside of the canopy Keith Turner the pilot got one hell of a fright seeing Hugh standing outside on the wing...this was in flight and Keith did his best approach and landing as he was worried Hugh might fall off.Following his CPL training he moved away and it was some years later we heard the bad news about the crash.

[Stevie B]

I started this thread in a previous employment, as ATCO17 and, after 3 years, was touched to see that people still remember and think of Huw, 25 years on.

Huw was an inspiration to me, a great friend and a kind and compassionate man. He loved his flying and his wonderful family. Huw's stories of His adventures and close calls as an Ag pilot would keave me wide eyed abd speechless.

Still miss his dry sense of humour. Will never forget his definition of a Wok.... "A wok is a thing you thwow at a wabbit when you haven't got a wifle..."

My thoughts are with Helen and Jarrod.

God rest.

[StressFree]

I certainly remember Hugh of Willow Walk, Canewdon, and that awful accident....... National Airways was a demanding place to work.

I remember that some years ago his son asked for memories of him on this site.

RIP Hugh.

[Daifly]

The pretty amazing Flight International archive refers:

1987 | 1835 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201835.html)

[e734c1fa42a367ca2390]

I'm not a pilot. I just put in Huw's name as i wanted to know exactly where the plaque was. I believe he managed to put his aircraft down on the only uninhabited building in the vicinity.

I knew Huw when he was trying to live a peaceful life and work in an office - less of a fish out of water more a whale. I'm so happy to have stumbled across this site - I didn't know anyone else who knew him. He was just lovely - we were both temping in the Stock Exchange doing the most boring job imaginable and he made it such fun. Men in suits trying to play the boss with Hugh F Brown - laughable! There is one story he told me that would appeal to readers of this site - Hugh went to the US to do a conversion course - passenger aircraft or just bigger commercial ones - can't remember - the examiner asked him what he would need to fly through Russian airspace. Hugh's reply "Steely blue eyes, a strong square jaw and thin, cruel lips" Apparently his questioner laughed so much he fell off his chair. God bless that man. Can we all raise a glass to him or something - I've always felt the need to commemorate him in some way. (perhaps I'll make a pilgrimage to see the plaque) Gina

[Yak97]

Just to correct the impression given by Mcdoo

".....identical failure killed another pilot during a go - around manoeuvre at East Midlands just a few weeks previously"

The crash at Southend was on 12 Sep 1987 and involved at Kingair 200

The crash at East Midlands was on 25 Jan 1988 and involved a KIngair 90.

Completely different engine types.

[390cruise]

Completely different engine types
Is going a bit far for different versions of the PT6 !

[His dudeness]

Something that the company was supposed to have performed a fleet wide inspection of after an identical failure killed another pilot during a go - around manoeuvre at East Midlands just a few weeks previously.

Excuse me but if the crash in Southend happened BEFORE the one in Eastern Midlands, how could the company have performed an inspection based on said accident ?

The crash at Southend was on 12 Sep 1987 and involved at Kingair 200

The crash at East Midlands was on 25 Jan 1988 and involved a KIngair 90.

Or are Yak97s dates the wrong way round ? Or was the one in EGNX the one you mean ?

OTOH why should one crash if one engine goes in a 200 ? Usually a good SE performer.... Was there more to it ?

[Yak97]

G-WSJE B200

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Beechcraft%20Super%20King%20Air%20200,%20G-WSJE%20%2009-88.pdf

G-BNAT C90

http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/Beech%20C90%20Kingair,%20G-BNAT%20%2009-88.pdf

[Yak97]

If I remember correctly there was some talk about miss-identification of switches in the cockpit on G-WSJE that may have had some contributory factors. However there was little enough left of the aircraft to make a definitive verdict.

As regards G-BNAT, there were other factors involved.

However that is all a long time ago now

[His dudeness]

Thanks Yak.

So it was the bleed valves diaphragms and nothing in the FCU.

I had one going bad right after takeoff in a B200 (-42s) many years ago (1994-5ish) and I remember that power dropped by roughly 700ft/lbs whilst ITT rose. The yaw was considerable, but not unmanageable. (but that happened in bright sunshine...)

After reducing power to appr.1200ft/lbs IIRC ITT was 740° which was our company ITT limit, we limped to our mx base, fortunately only a 25 min flight away. After a boroscope inspection and a new valve installed the engine was fine again.

[e734c1fa42a367ca2390]

Thank you. I still haven't visited the plaque. I must go. (I'm not an aviator - I just joined this forum a long time ago to try and get more information about what happened to Hugh.) He was a lovely man.

[Stevie B]

Hi Gina.

The plaque is still there - I drove past it a couple of weeks ago and is visible on Google Street view.

243 Eastwood Rd, Rayleigh SS6 7LF

Bizarrely, several years back, I night stopped in Kuala Lumpur and got chatting to a New Zealander in a bar. turned out she was from Masterton and went to school with Huw and Helen's son, Jarrod. Small world....

Steve.

[tomuchwork]

Stepped into this thread by accident. Sad story but flying like this was standard back in the 80's and 90's(and of course before but that is before my aviation time).

And, as of post #19, yes, in aviation the world is a village, you always meet persons that you have been with in previous companies. At the end you always meet someone who knows you - so be nice. The world is a village.

Aviation still, sometimes, can be amazing. However - it lost a lot compared to the last century. And not all of the new is really good.

[Miles Stanton]

My name is Miles Stanton, although I was christened Miles Brown. I am Hugh's brother. These days I live in Sydney. I was living in London on 12 Sept, 1987 - so needless to say I was involved. I was last in Rayleigh around 2014 and was pleased to see the plaque is still there. I always try to head to Canewdon for a pint in Hugh's old local whenever I visit Rayleigh.

Hugh's son, Jarrod, was 4 when Hugh died. He is now a fine 38 year old living in Masterton, married to Nicole with three wonderful children. I see him often and was lucky enough to spend 2-3 days with him in Feb - before we'd heard of Covid and the world changed.

Is this string still active? Anything anyone would like to know about Hugh? I am not a pilot - but I can recall, when he put me into the right hand seat of his DC3 for a fertiliser run, his Labrador, Jasper, was very agitated as he would fly most days strapped into that seat.

He is still very much missed by many people. When I was in Masterton in Feb people heard I was there and actively searched me out to talk about Hugh. It's been almost 33 years - he was 33 when he died.

In an interesting twist my oldest son, Richard, was born on 12 Sept 1997 - 10 years exactly to the day Hugh died.

Let me know how I can help with any information.

Miles

[Stan Woolley]

Hi Miles

Great to hear from you! See email.

Steve McKinnell

[Stevie B]

Hi Miles.

I started this thread a few years ago, when I was in the RAF.

Not sure if you remember me, but it must have been about 1984 when we met. Hugh, Helen & Jarrod we’re living in Canewdon then. I was working at Southend airport and I’d not long returned from Avignon, where Huw & Helen had visited us for a short while.

I believe, when we met, that Hugh was away, flying - maybe on a contract in North Africa. Helen had employed a Spanish nanny to help look after Jarrod, whilst she continued her nursing job and successfully matched me with Marta, the nanny. We were a couple for some time, before Marta returned to Spain. There was another Spanish girl there too, Isabel - I remember, when you were staying in Canewdon, you would always ask her, “Isabel necessary on a bicycle?”

Those were happy days.

[Miles Stanton]

Stevie B;

Stevie B - I remember. Marta was lovely - I wonder what happened to her. Isabelle was/is French and she has always stayed in contact with Jarrod and me. She spent a year or so in NZ when Helen and Jarrod returned in around 1988/89. PM me and let's get some email going.

==============================

Until you have a posting history you don't have access to private messaging and adding urls. Offer an email address.

[Miles Stanton]

Hi Miles.

I started this thread a few years ago, when I was in the RAF.

Not sure if you remember me, but it must have been about 1984 when we met. Hugh, Helen & Jarrod we’re living in Canewdon then. I was working at Southend airport and I’d not long returned from Avignon, where Huw & Helen had visited us for a short while.

I believe, when we met, that Hugh was away, flying - maybe on a contract in North Africa. Helen had employed a Spanish nanny to help look after Jarrod, whilst she continued her nursing job and successfully matched me with Marta, the nanny. We were a couple for some time, before Marta returned to Spain. There was another Spanish girl there too, Isabel - I remember, when you were staying in Canewdon, you would always ask her, “Isabel necessary on a bicycle?”

Those were happy days.
Steve B, I am on [email protected]