Suspected heli crash, Gloucestershire (Nov 2008)
 

Just caught the tail end of an item on BBC news 24 that a civilian heli , I think he said a Gazelle had come down in Gloucester hopefully no fatalities thoughts to those involved

I took this photo of Winchcombe on a flight earlier in the year because I have friends whose houses are within it.

I am pretty sure Langley Farm is the portion I have highlighted.

<Snip> - Photo removed! Thanks ppheli - I stand corrected. Langley Farm was just out of shot in fact.

Helicopter crashes on farmland in Gloucestershire
 

Any snippets guy's un girls

From BBC

A helicopter has crashed at a farm near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, police have said.

It came down at about 1200 GMT at Langley Hill Farm near Winchcombe.

The flight path over the area has been closed. There is no confirmed news on any injuries at present.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch said it had been informed of the crash.

Three killed! possibly more

Yet another sad day in aviation...

RIP

Helicopter Crashes Near Cheltenham In Gloucestershire Kills Three People | UK News | Sky News

Just seen the news on the BBC regarding the 3 deaths .. All our thoughts with them & their friends and family..

XV105, Langley Farm is the top edge of your pic, just left of centre AFAIK. Friends of mine used to live in Langley, the main house after which the farm (and the road they are both on) is named. Check Google Maps and Langley Road runs due west from the town, roughly parallel and north of the B4632 Cheltenham Road.

The reports include a witness who described the weather at the time as misty................

the owners of the helicopter dont live there at langley or near there

Can anyone give any airframe info, even colour would help.

Phil

I don't think the weather was too bad..
 

..I drove through the about an hour before the accident. Wasn't paying too much attention to the weather (and of course it could have deteriorated very substantially between 11.oo and 12.00)... but it seemed calm and benign I would guess 5k+ and clear of cloud below about 1500' Very sad. bm

phil why ? are you a journo

MD600, yeah, as a leading BBC journalist the most important thing is the colour - engage brain, look at my previous posts and if you know the answer, tell me, it's important.

It's OK, now have the information I needed.

Pictures of heli can be seen here;


Three dead after helicopter crashes into field in heavy mist | Mail Online

Phil,

Try this link. Some journo has dug up some info.

Three die in helicopter crash - Yahoo! News UK

Helimarshaller

Helimarshaller - appreciate it, thanks

they are correct it is a ex military gazelle

Timesonline reports the registration of the Gazelle concerned

at least they got it correct this time

I was teaching in that area today, around 1200 as well. Its been a strange day, over the ridge towards Kemble I could barely get 1100ft AGL, and it was real bumpy. Not too windy, between 12 and 18kts Northerly. But so bumpy, my student really struggled so we cut it short.

Thoughts with the families

any confirmations of a reg no. yet?

3 people in an ex-military Gazelle?

To agowar - if you read earlier replies on this thread you would find that the answer to your question was already there in one of the links.

agowar1, it's a short thread, I commend you to read it, especially post #18

RIP to those lost and deepest sympathy to those left behind.

overfly - have looked at the Timesonline link and cant find evidence of a registration. would it not be easier to just tell me if you know?

You have to look for a second, older report on the Times online report:

However it is public knowledge, including the name of at least one on board. I will go so far as: Reported as G-CBXT; seen here on a better day.
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/GImages/G-CBXT001.jpg
[CAA Database Photograph.]
Published photographs of the accident scene suggest that it remained in this colour scheme. A sad day.

AGOWAR1
I don't think you have read any of the threads, If you read the link from Freefall77 (thread 14) you would have seen the reg number.

Gazelle Crash Cheltenham
 

Just looking at the posts after being informed earlier of the news as many are in the dark over what has happened and dont really want any speculation to go in the wrong direction as sometimes happens in these circumstances, I know both the owners of this A/C and have flown with both pilots. One owner who is registered as the keeper where the A/C is based is two miles from my house. The Pilot that was flying was Rick Paskey and had either his son with him or another male and a female family friend.

He visited the second owners house this morning at around 08:30 GMT and took off for a private site in Stratford upon Avon and after lifting from there was flying to Falcon Air at Yeovilton where the maintenance is done and crashed on the hillside of Langley Farm near Winchcombe.

We dont know if it his son or another male onboard as yet but are all deeply saddened by the loss. Rick was a good pilot and learnt alongside myself at Coventry Helicopter Centre before it went into liquidation in 2001.

Our thoughts and blessings go out to Ricks wife and family that he has left behind and also of those onboard.

Whatever the cause, RIP to those onboard.

Not speculating here but hoping it wasn't yet another 'human factor' as the cause. Too many lives being wasted!:sad:

What a tragic loss of life - sincere condolences to all concerned.

Although it is easy to jump to conclusions the information above would appear to suggest that this was a CFIT accident. I was flying a bit further Southwest yesterday before and after the accident and the air was far from smooth, perhaps turbulence in cloud may have also been a contributing factor. All the more tragic if this was the case since routing to the West via Glouocester would most likely have been free of mist shrouded hilltops.

Did this gazelle have an autopilot or stability augmentation system of any sort?
Anyone know if there was any kind of terrain avoidance kit fitted, even a colour moving map GPS with terrain?

RIP

Scooter Boy

Not speculating??

The previous two posters (especially you, scooter boy) seem to have wrapped up the board of inquiry!

Don't be surprised it the press quote you and potentially give the family more stress at this time. :*


Knock off the armchair accident investigations eh?

Without jumping to any conclusions. I would like to make the following comment based on recently attending the safety briefing at Wycombe and the number of these types of incidents that happen.

A key topic at the briefing was why us rotary guys (and girls, lets just call it guys and include the girls in that) don't learn from the mistakes of the fixed wing guys. One of the things that favours fixed wing flyers is that they have to fly from an airfield. If the weather did have a part to play in this crash, for the fixed winger, he is going to have to get out of the airfield and from his arrival to his departure he is going to have to talk to many people, which gives him the opportunity to gather information about whether it is safe to fly. There are also minimum weather conditions that prohibit his departure.

On the other hand, us rotary guys take off from anywhere, might not talk to a soul before lifting (I hope not) and maybe not have enough weather info at our disposal.

Quite a few people I have flown with are surprised that I can lift off from my backyard without informing anyone.

This is only a suggestion, and I turn my cheek openly towards the pprune bashers, PPL's who fly from private sites be required to file a flight plan, say two hours prior to lifting. The CAA can then make a recommendation about the weather conditions or any other issue that might impact the flight. I underline recommendation as I'm sure the CAA will not want to open itself to any liability and the recommendation/flight plan approval, clearly states it is the captain's decision and no liabilty is accepted.

At least this way the pilot is going to have some input from someone else, whether he chooses to listen or not, is his decision, but it might help save some lives.

Cheers
Chippy

ChippyChop,

Rather than confuse the issue here, maybe you should start another thread with your suggestion?

If you get the caa in it will probably be quicker to drive by the time you have filled in all the new forms they will require.:eek: We are so lucky in this country to have the ability to take off and fly from one end to the other without HAVING to speak to anybody at any time and it would be a sad day that we lose that . Next stop no off airport landings , no vfr etc etc I still believe we need affordable certified autopilots for small helicopters and the ability to go imc safely , if inadvertently entered . Fixed wing seem far better served with their imc ratings . Also in this day and age why is it STILL impossible to get accurate actual weather for areas away from airports ??
Very sad if it is in fact weather related once again . RIP

Off-airport weather
 

Look at this website.

It's a world-wide weather site. You can search by the town or airport that you are interested in. But, the great thing about it is the list of on-line personal weather stations that display actual weather continuously.

This view is of Gloucestershire. There is an on-line weather station at Bishops Cleeve - about three miles west of the crash site at Winchcombe. Click on the numbered circles for the weather.

Granted, it's not a certified met-man running it, but the information available gives a pretty good indication of the actual conditions locally.

Have a look and see what you think.

Interesting to see that Staverton isn't too far from Winchcombe, they should know the local conditions, shouldn't they?

RIP to whom was lost, very sad..:(

Chippychop - the problem is not access to the weather it is the decisions that pilots make about what they perceive to be their chances of success in the prevailing met conditions.

The really big difference between FW and RW is that we can go lower and slower which encourages people to push on when they should turn back or land.

How many PPLHs have to smear theselves across the landscape when pushing on in poor weather (and I am not saying that this happened in this tragic accident) before people recognise their own limitations? You wouldn't drive down a motorway in fog and rain at 100mph but lots of private helos have crashed at similar speeds in similar weather conditions.

A very sad day, RIP for our friends.

Just seen this update on Times Online: Three killed in air crash - Times Online

Eyewitnesses are always a little tenuous with their information, the aircraft has now miraculously had a mid-air paint job, and is yellow!!! Where do they find these people, surprised she hasn't told the press she is an "Aviation Expert".

This is yet another sad day for aviation, and the rotary world especially.


I don't agree with any speculation in a public domain such as this, especially as we all know that the press frequent these parts and will mercilessly quote people's posts. We all have ideas in our heads as to what MAY have happened, and perhaps in our heads is where they should stay.

My thoughts are with the families of those involved.