Invader Crash at Biggin Hill

By coincidence I was sorting out some boxes the other day and came across the first ever edition of Flypast, May/June 1981.
The first article following Mike Twites editorial is a report on the crash, including 2 horrific photographs that I’m sure they wouldn’t put in the magazine today.
One shows the plane plunging inverted with contrails streaming off the wings, the other shows the resultant fireball, rather more than a wisp of smoke.
The pictures are attributed to Ron Wickers, he must have had nerves of steel to take those, anyone know him.

If it is of interest I am happy to tell the rest of the story

It rather depends on what you are about to tell us.

If you can keep it factual without opinion or surmise I am sure we would all be interested.

It is possible that friends and relatives of those on board could read this thread, please keep that at the front of your mind as you post

Moggy
Moderator

A26 Invader

I appreciate that this is an old thread, but I too was at Biggin Hill that day. In fact I was with the aircraft for the day through a friend of mine’s father, and was supposed to be on board it for the display.

I am not being morbid about this, but I only remember a certain amount about the other aircraft flying. I remeber the A26 was parked next to Sally B (including painted broomsticks as machine guns!), with a B25 on the other side. Both of these aircraft flew after the crash. There was also an Anson, Spitfires, the Jordanian Royal Falcons in their Pitts Specials, a Firelfy, Sea Fury and Sea Hawk.

Can anyone tell me what else was flying that day?

If it is of interest I am happy to tell the rest of the story

This struck me as a strange fact: as this aircraft was totally destroyed in the sad Biggin Hill crash, why is it still listed as ‘current’ on the register, according to this website?

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N3710G.html

Tillerman.

Hear hear!

This has been discussed at length.

You are entitled to your opinion on the pilot’s state of mind, it is nothing more than that.

I am intrigued by your use of single quotation marks around the worrd ‘male’. Is there some doubt as to the sex of the other victims? If so this is the first I’ve heard of it.

You may be wrong about what? You seem to have posted a factual report of the incident as you perceived it. You have thrown in a couple of assumptions (How do you know he was at ‘full power’? Did you have a datalink to the aircraft or are you just guessing from the sound it made.) but otherwise it is what you saw at the time.

Your earnestness was unlikely to be questioned.

Welcome.

Moggy

Yes Moggy, I agree with all that you say. I was there, at the valley end, and watched the whole horrible event. The facts are widely known and it was put down to pilot error in CAA report as I recall. Speculation as to “suicide” is idle to say the least. It was a serious error of judgment by the pilot performing a barrel roll, from which he lost altitude as he attempted to recover and dived almost vertically into “the valley” streaming contrails from the wingtips as he tried to recover it. That said, I think all the suicide nonsense comes from the fact that at the Inquest (?) and certainly within the CAA report, I think, the pilots state of mind was questioned and it was revealed he was on anti-depressants. That is in the public domain, and I imagine where the oft-repeated suicide story comes from. But those two facts are a long way from suicide. And no, the pilots wife was not on board but, tragically, his girlfriend was in the crowd. Andy Saunders

I was there on that sad day too – the A26 definitely passed from crowd right to crowd left, as viewed from the normal crowd line (as used to this day), though at that stage the public might still have been able to get round to the north side of the main runway for some of the static displays – they used to let you walk round the end of the runway under the active flightpath 😮

The A26 pulled up and rolled, and was inverted at about crowd centre, after which th enose dropped, and it dissappeared almost vertically into the “valley” at the south(east)ern end of the main runway 🙁 . No more comment needed.

Paul F

RIP

William

I saw the accident from the crowdline. The Invader flew past the crowd right to left, heading south, and …..

I’m not going to enter this debate other than to say I recall watching with horror on the tv news. It’s just that I seem to remember the aircraft passing from left to right. The camera could have been on the other side of the runway but I always assumed it was in the crowdline.

Roger Smith.

I thought it was deliberate suicide.

I heard later his wife and some ‘ male ‘ friends where on board.

I think he took them all with him.

I may be wrong but I am in deadly earnest.

This has been discussed at length.

You are entitled to your opinion on the pilot’s state of mind, it is nothing more than that.

I am intrigued by your use of single quotation marks around the worrd ‘male’. Is there some doubt as to the sex of the other victims? If so this is the first I’ve heard of it.

You may be wrong about what? You seem to have posted a factual report of the incident as you perceived it. You have thrown in a couple of assumptions (How do you know he was at ‘full power’? Did you have a datalink to the aircraft or are you just guessing from the sound it made.) but otherwise it is what you saw at the time.

Your earnestness was unlikely to be questioned.

Welcome.

Moggy

A26 Invader Crash at Biggin Hill circa 1980

I was there.

I watched the whole display by the Invader with a growing sense of alarm.

No-one next to me in the crowd was aware of what I could see going on overhead before our eyes.

Someone was flying ‘ an old lady ‘ with a ferocity that I concidered near suicidal. Contrails off the props and control surfaces, engines at full power, speed scrubbed off with viceous turns. Flying very low. Hard 180 degree turns over the crowd. I fully expected a mid air break-up. After 3/4/5 minutes of this the Invader goes from a height of 100 feet above the level of the runway into a vertical dive into the valley.

I shouted that ‘ he’s got no height for that ‘.

A flash, then a crump, then a whispy column of smoke.

Public address was silent thoughout the display and remained silent for five minutes afterwards. Crowd unaware or unconcerned about the whole episode.

I thought it was deliberate suicide.

I heard later his wife and some male “friends” where on board.

I think he took them all with him.

I may be wrong but I am in deadly earnest.

Don Bullock attempted the same manouvre on take off at Mildenhall Air Fete the previous May, as he attempted to barrel roll he changed his mind and managed to pull it into a climbing turn, the commentator went very quiet then made some comment to the effect of ‘He shouldn’t have tried that’.
My heart always used to sink when I knew he was going to display, especially with respect to Sally B, which caused an eventual ban at Duxford I recall. Always feared the worst would happen eventually.

As i always have thought it was a accident waiting to happen and a dark day in Biggin Hill’s and Airshow history, I never really understood why he was still allowed to fly despite many people having worries about his display, I read he wanted to practice the display but for some reason organisers were unable to accomodate his request, I know the rest is history but make you wonder if he had practiced would a less people have lost there lives.

The suicidal thing seems unlikely to me as others have said why kill others with you?, Its more lightly the fact that it was pilot showing off and not thinking of consquences, Other photo’s posted on different threads have shown how he displayed Sally B, seems to me he thought a accident would not happen to him and that he could almost walk on water.

As i see it this was a watershed in Airshow history as ment a lot of rules were changed after it happened, The best thing to do with it now is consign it to history where it belongs and hope such a thing never happens again anywhere.

Don Bullock attempted the same manouvre on take off at Mildenhall Air Fete the previous May, as he attempted to barrel roll he changed his mind and managed to pull it into a climbing turn, the commentator went very quiet then made some comment to the effect of ‘He shouldn’t have tried that’.
My heart always used to sink when I knew he was going to display, especially with respect to Sally B, which caused an eventual ban at Duxford I recall. Always feared the worst would happen eventually.

That sounds sickenly familiar. 🙁

Exactly what I was thinking Paul. 🙁

Cheers

Paul

I saw the accident from the crowdline. The Invader flew past the crowd right to left, heading south, and as it did so it climbed and rolled left. When the roll reached the inverted position the nose dropped sharply, and the aircraft continued rolling left before it disappeared flying vertically into the valley. There was no sound of an explosion but a large puff of smoke. I understand the Invader was carrying little fuel. I also believe that the onset of stall on this aircraft due to the laminar wing design was sudden and unforgiving.

That sounds sickeningly familiar. 🙁

Was there also an issue with Bullock’s license being expired?

John

Rolling any twin engined aircraft of that vintage at low level isn’t likely to have good consequences if you have a lapse of concentration or engine control problem.

Witness

I saw the accident from the crowdline. The Invader flew past the crowd right to left, heading south, and as it did so it climbed and rolled left. When the roll reached the inverted position the nose dropped sharply, and the aircraft continued rolling left before it disappeared flying vertically into the valley. There was no sound of an explosion but a large puff of smoke. I understand the Invader was carrying little fuel. I also believe that the onset of stall on this aircraft due to the laminar wing design was sudden and unforgiving.

A friend of mine mailed me a photo some years back (from a magazine I think) of the 26 coming down towards the cameraman on that fateful manouver. You could even make out the guy sitting in the nose! Guess the passengers never knew what hit them!!! 🙁

T J

It’s too bad that ten years and a week or so later on 29 Sept, 1990 Doug Lacey did not heed the lessons learned from the Bullock crash when he was performing outside the envelope maneuvers in his PV-2D Harpoon in Northern California, taking…ironically 7 people as well. What a waste of lives. (It wasnt during an air display but at a seaplane gathering Lacey was not invited to)

John

If he was suicidal would he still decide to take 7 others with him.I wonder whether the others in the plane may have had some imput to the bravado/showing off type of flying.