Accident at Biggin
 

Does anyone have any information as yet?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4366984.stm

The only thing I can add, for what it's worth, is that two Search & Rescue Sea Kings were operating at low level around the site following the incident (about a mile from my home). The accident site as reported is probably less than half a mile south of airfield and on the edge of the built-up area.

And, of course, to offer my condolences to friends and family of the deceased.

BBC News website says it was an instructor with 20 years experience and a pupil on a flying lesson, in a PA28. Should have been a safe combination.

What was the weather doing round there this morning?

http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=17468

Found this link on flyer. It appears to be from Surrey and Kent Flying School. a PA38 , the weather at Redhill was good. Another sad day:(

Pictures seem to suggest it's PA38 registered G-BYLE

I'd just got to Biggin today when I heard, which explained why the police were blocking off the road at the bottom of the valley. (and still were, four hours later).

Sympathies to family and friends of both.

Did most of my training in Lima Echo. A tragic day for a good club with a good reputation.

Hits hard when it's close to home..

Sad Day....... Was a PA38, with two confirmed as dead. Crashed only a few yards from my family home. As a flyer from Biggin for many years and many friends there, there is no point, at this stage in speculation, that will be done expertly by the AAIB, sufice it to say a very bad day. My condolences to all the famillies involved.

Also learnt at Biggin and know a lot of the S&K guys. Condolences to all.

My parents live in Victoria Gardens and the first my Mum knew was when the emergency services arrived. The procedure the instructor followed seems the standard EFATO route - but he can't have had sufficient height - Victoria Gardens runs parallel and less than 100 metres short of the field he was aiming for.

There's a good chance that, having realised he wasn't going to make the field, this guy sacrificed everything to make sure he came down on the road leading to the field rather than housing. Heroic presence of mind.

RIP.

Condolences to family and friends of the deceased.

Readability5,

You seem to have remarkable insight into what apparently happened in advance of an AAIB investigation. I cannot understand why people indulge in pointless speculation regarding aircraft accidents on a public forum. It does no-one any favours.

ST

It would seem that the speculation above is mirrored in many of the news reports which all seem to suggest similar.

Whenever speculation occurs on the cause of an accident there are always those who condemn it out of hand and insist that the official report should be awaited.

There is though, a valuable safety reminder in some limited speculation on the causes of any light aircraft accident.

In the case we're discussing, I bet hundreds of private pilots will be taking a little more care to think about their EFATO procedures and options available from their particular runway, even if nothing could have helped in this particular instance.

I do agree that it shouldn't expand into a full blown discussion about the causes though, and certainly not attempt to allocate any blame.

I wondered how long it would tkae the PPRuNe Amateur AAIB chaps to don their white coats, chew on their pipes and start giving their words of wisdom on this subject.

For crying out loud, drop the speculation and let the thread fall out of sight.

People have died. If I meet my maker in similar circumstances I don't particularly want to have my last moments discussed in this way.

Respect could be demonstrated by this thread falling politely from Page 1 of Private Flying

Whilst I am generally against speculation, I reckon that the comments above are pretty general. A whole miriad of issues might well have been going on in the aircraft and those of course are best left to the AAIB. But the AAIB report is months, maybe more than a year away. If what Readability 5 has posted makes flyers of light twins (or indeed any pilot) safer, then that must be a good thing.

The aircraft described here by type (PA38) and/or Regn is not a twin.

If one person reading this thread benefits in an emergency from some of the speculation then surely this brings something good from a tragic event?

As someone mentioned - a few guys reading this will be paying special attention to their EFATO procedures now - that has to be a good thing.

If I perish in an aircraft accident please feel free to speculate as much as you like if it aids flight safety and gets people thinking - let the opportunity not go to waste.... just like my organ donations.

VFE.