The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) have published their report about the crash on 13 July 2017 of a two-seater aircraft at Brismlade Farm near Wootton Rivers which killed the two pilots aboard. The report comes to no definite conclusion as to the cause of the crash.
The AAIB report does not name the two pilots, but they were identified as the owner of the American HK36 TC Super Dimona (a touring motor glider or TMG) Gordon Davis, 66 from Gloucester, and Paul Gunnell, aged 57 from Guernsey.
Davis had flown from Nympsfield (near Stroud) to Daycott Airfield near Chisledon. There Davis picked up an instructor – Gunnell – so he could revalidate his flying licence for the plane.
Gunnell was a former military fast jet pilot and current airline pilot, he had recently completed training as a civilian instructor on ‘single engine piston’ (SEP) planes and he owned a single engine Cirrus SR22.
However, the report says: “The instructor did not hold a TMG class rating…the Instructor was not qualified to be pilot in command or give instruction on TMG class aircraft such as the Super Dimona as he did not hold a [licence with] TMG class rating.”
“The similarity between the TMG and SEP classes of aircraft has led some to believe, incorrectly, that possession of a valid SEP (land) class rating also entitles them to fly TMG class aircraft. The AAIB raised the issue with the [Civil Aviation Authority], who agreed to publish safety information to flight instructors to clarify the requirements for instruction on TMG class aircraft.”
The pilot lost control of the plane and it came done in a field of barley at Brimslade Farm about seven miles from Draycott Airfield. A fire stared which set light to the crop. “The aircraft struck the ground at high speed in a steep nose-down attitude.”
After examining the crash site, the plane’s manufacturers estimate that it was accelerating at 9g when it hit the ground. As the aerial photo of the crash site shows, hardly any of the plane survived.
The pilots died from their injuries: “The post-mortem examinations of the pilots indicated that the scale of the injuries resulting from the impact were not survivable.”
The report found that “The impact damage and subsequent fire made it impractical to determine whether any pre-accident defect was present in the flying control system.”
The AAIB report concludes: “There was insufficient evidence available to determine conclusively the cause of the loss of control.” The ‘probable’ cause is a ‘power-on stall’ – i.e. stalling while the engine is still running: “Some witnesses described the engine noise increasing in the latter stages of the flight.”
The report raises – and then dismisses – one other strange and possible cause of the accident: “The remains of a walking pole were found amongst the wreckage.” Could this, if not properly stowed, have become entangled in the control mechanisms?
“It is difficult to envisage a plausible scenario whereby the pole could have interfered with the operation of the aircraft’s controls.”
After the accident marlborough.news published a tribute to Paul Gunnell which can be read here.