Air accident at Oudega

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Air accident at Oudega
Britten Norman BN.2 G-ATCT LEB 6/19/65 edited-2.jpg

The aircraft involved in the accident at the Paris Air Show in 1965
Accident summary
Accident type Loss of control and structural failure
place near Oudega , Southwest Fryslân , NetherlandsNetherlandsNetherlands 
date November 9, 1966
Fatalities 2
Survivors 0
Aircraft
Aircraft type United KingdomUnited Kingdom Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
operator United KingdomUnited Kingdom Britten-Norman
Mark United KingdomUnited Kingdom G-ATCT
Departure airport Emden Airport , BR Germany
Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany 
Destination airport Southampton International Airport , United KingdomUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom 
Passengers 1
crew 1
Lists of aviation accidents

The flight accident at Oudega occurred on November 9, 1966 on a factory flight of the Britten-Norman from Emden to Southampton . The prototype of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander G-ATCT crashed after losing control at Oudega in what is now the Dutch municipality of Southwest Fryslân . The two occupants of the machine were killed in the accident.

plane

The machine was the first ever built prototype of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander type with the serial number 1 . The machine was finally assembled at the Britten-Norman factory in 1965 . On April 15, 1965, the machine was registered with the aircraft manufacturer G-ATCT . On June 12, 1965, the machine completed its maiden flight, which was also the first flight of a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander. The machine was used as a demonstration model for exhibitions such as the Paris Air Show in 1965, but also for presentation flights. The machine was initially equipped with Lycoming O-360 piston aircraft engines, but these were later replaced by more powerful Lycoming O-540 engines, which were later used in series in machines of this type. The twin-engine feeder aircraft had completed 546 operating hours by the time of the accident.

Inmates

There were two occupants on board the machine, a pilot and a passenger. The 46-year-old pilot also had type ratings for aircraft De Havilland Dragon Rapide DH.89 and Avro Anson 652A . He had 7,700 hours of flight experience, 30 of which he had completed with the BN-2 Islander.

Flight history

After the prototype had completed several demonstration flights in Germany, it was to be transferred to the manufacturer's plant in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight on November 9, 1966 . The positioning flight took off from Emden Airport at 11:37 a.m. local time . The flight should be carried out according to visual flight rules . Two minutes after take-off, the pilot made radio contact with air traffic control in Eelde and informed them at 11.50 a.m. that he was abeam the Eelde radio beacon and was flying over the cloud cover at an altitude of 1,500 feet under visual flight weather conditions . At this point the pilot could not possibly have a clear view of the area overflown. At 11:56 a.m., the pilot asked the flight information service in Amsterdam whether they could enable him to perform a radar-based flight through the control room at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport . This was denied on the grounds that a radar connection could not be established. At 12:09 p.m., the pilot was advised to return to Eelde, as the weather conditions in the control room at Schiphol did not permit a visual flight at an altitude of 1,500 feet. After receiving the instruction, the pilot announced that he would continue the flight according to his flight plan.

the accident

When he was at an altitude of 1,500 feet at 12:20 p.m., the pilot informed air traffic control that he would fly westward out of the Schiphol control area. This radio message came after the air traffic controller had warned the pilot once again that he should stay away from the Schiphol control area, as it was impossible to fly through the area under visual flight rules at an altitude of 1,500 feet. The later reconstruction of the route flown by the machine showed that the Islander had deviated from its flight route shortly afterwards and continued the flight on a course of 40 degrees. At 12:34 p.m. the pilot reported to air traffic control and informed them that he was currently having serious problems with the radio compass. He asked to be piloted, but air traffic control was still unable to establish a radar link with the machine. In the village of Rijs on the IJsselmeer in the south of the province of Friesland , eyewitnesses then observed how the machine flew over the area several times in fog and rain at low altitudes. At 12:40 p.m. the pilot reported problems with the radio compass again and asked for a radar-based approach, but air traffic control was still unable to establish radar contact. At 12:47 p.m. the flight was canceled at low altitude. The pilot climbed the machine and reported at 12:49 p.m. that he was at an altitude of 3,000 feet and was flying under meteorological instrument flight conditions and that he had serious problems with the flight instruments. Air traffic control instructed him to maintain the altitude and to fly a course of 200 degrees. Contrary to this instruction, the pilot reported at 12:51 p.m. that he was at an altitude of 5,000 feet and at 12:54 p.m. that he was at 6,000 feet. At 12:55 p.m. the air traffic controller asked the pilot whether the machine was flying in a circle. The pilot replied in the affirmative. The air traffic controller confirmed receipt of the radio message and stated that he had assumed that the machine would follow the course of 200 degrees. The pilot replied that he was unable to maintain a course. Shortly thereafter, the machine appeared on the flight surveillance radar. The pilot instructed the pilot to make a left turn. The pilot replied again that he could not maintain a course and that right turns were easier to fly. At 12:58 p.m. the pilot inquired about the height of the cloud cover and asked whether there were areas between the cloud layers in which he could encounter visual flight conditions. When the pilot was given clearance to climb to 8,000 feet, a Bundeswehr Air Force aircraft flew over the area near Spijkerboor at 10,000 feet and reported that meteorological instrument flight conditions were unrestricted at this altitude. At 1:01 p.m., the Islander pilot reported that he was 8,700 feet above sea level and that he was trying to get the plane up as fast as possible because he wanted to fly out of the cloud zone above. This was the last radio message that air traffic control received. The machine could be located on the radar screen until 13:09, after which it disappeared from it. According to the air traffic controller, who was watching the radar, the movements suggested that the machine had made a series of random, tight-knit right and left turns in the past ten to twelve minutes. At 1:10 p.m., passers-by near Lake Ringwiel near the town of Oudega saw aircraft debris falling from the sky, most of which fell into the lake. The aircraft debris could later be assigned to the BN-2 Islander G-ATCT .

causes

Calculations and physical evidence indicated that the machine had climbed to an altitude of more than 10,000 feet. In this area, she was flown into a weather zone with strong icing conditions and moderate to strong turbulence.

The accident investigation revealed that the machine had crashed after a structural failure in the area of ​​the right wing. The structural failure was caused by overloading the material during a rapid descent. The descent was believed to have been caused by a loss of control when the machine was flown into a zone with severe icing and turbulence, with the machine being flown under conditions that far exceeded the maximum permissible operating conditions specified in the certificate of airworthiness.

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