September 1979 to December 1982
Alidair
G-ARBY - c/n 10 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
1 September 1979
Returned from Dan-Air London lease and 'Alidair Scotland' titles retained.
17 July 1980
Damaged beyond economic repair after a forced landing south of Ottery St Mary, 6 miles short of Exeter Airport, Devon, England.
Total time 35,122 hours.
Forced landed near< br />Exeter Airport, Devon, England
While operating a non-scheduled passenger charter flight QA7815 from Santander Airport, Northern Spain to Exeter Airport, Devon, England the aircraft ran out of fuel and force landed in a field at Bishops Court Farm, Ottery St Mary, Devon, England. There were no casualties amongst the four crew and 58 passengers on board.
18 July 1980
Airline staff arrived at about 5AM and quickly painted out the airline titles.
Representatives from the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) arrived from Farnborough and began their on-site investigations.
20 July 1980
The aircraft was jacked up and the undercarriage lowered in preparation for its dismantling and removal for further investigation.
The fuselage was then chopped in two and placed on two Royal Air Foce 'Queen Mary' road transporters.
11 August 1980
The dismantled aircraft was finally removed from the accident scene over the next two days and transported to Farnborough Airfield, Hampshire, England for further examination.
After the investigation was completed the remains of the aircraft lay in a nearby compound at Farnborough for several years before it was finally scrapped.
30 October 1981
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) Report 9/1981 was finally published, written by G C Wilkinson - Chief Inspector of Accidents: -
Here is the summary of the report (go to website aaib.gov.uk for the full report).
The aircraft was captained by Geoffrey Whittaker (55) with William (Bill) Hickock (58) as co-pilot and Sandra McNeil and Sue Hudson in the cabin.
The aircraft was engaged on a passenger charter flight from Santander Airport, Northern Spain to Exeter Airport, Devon, England.
The aircraft arrived at Santander Airport 8 minutes ahead of schedule, at 16:22 local time.
The aircraft commander recorded in the Technical Log a fuel state on shut down of 3178 litres and ordered a total fuel load of 5902 litres for the return flight, that is 454 litres less than the figure for full tanks. Whilst the aircraft commander was with the handling agents, the co-pilot supervised the refuelling. He requested a total uplift of 2720 litres and wrote the figures down, showing them to the senior of the two operators of the refuelling vehicle, which was not the one that had refuelled the aircraft on its earlier flight that day.
On this previous flight, intermittent contact of the external electrical supply socket caused the aircraft's refuelling valve to open and close intermittently, interrupting the refuelling process.
The refuelling was therefore completed using electrical power from the aircraft batteries, boosted by the ground power unit (GPU). With the aircraft obtaining its electrical power from the same ground power unit as before apparently quite satisfactorily, the operators then refuelled the two sides of the aircraft one after the other, using the same hose each time. When the refueller finished pumping, its indicators recorded a total delivery of 2720 litres and the co-pilot checked the figures and signed the delivery note accordingly. Neither pilot made a physical check of the aircraft's tanks using the dripsticks.
Both fuel contents gauges had a history of defects. A recurrent problem in the port fuel gauge was recorded in the Technical Log as a deferred defect, expressed as 'port fuel contents gauge fluctuating occasionally, ie full scale deflection; rectification being carried forward until the next check'. The starboard gauge also had a defecet. The aircraft commander did not draw the co-pilot's attention to this entry, who remained unaware of it.
Before starting the engines the pilots again set the flow meter totals at zero. The aircraft left Santander, Northern Spain at 17:33 and was shortly afterwards cleared to its planned cruising level of Flight Level 180. The planned flight time was 2 hours and 9 minutes, with an expected fuel consumption of 3375 litres, leaving a reserve of 2527 litres. At 18:46 the aircraft passed over Nantes, France. The flow meters then indicated that 1964 litres had been consumed, which was exactly according to the navigation plan and the crew therefore recorded that at that moment 3320 kgs (4150 litres) remained in the aircraft tanks.
At approximately 19:10 whilst in the area of Dinard, Northern France the fuel contents gauges began to cause them some concern. The port gauge, with various fluctuations, occasionally fell to zero, but sometimes read full. The starboard gauge gave a reading equivalent to 500 litres and continued to fall steadily as the flight progressed. The pilots reviewed the fuel situation and although uneasy, considered that in the light of the recorded uplift and the totals on the flow meters, that they must have ample fuel on board. As the aircraft approached Guernsey, Channel Islands the aircraft commander considered diverting there in order to take on more fuel, but after further thought decided against this action. At 19:28 when the aircraft was between Guernsey and Berry Head, near Brixham, South Devon it received initial descent clearance and shortly afterwards was further cleared to Flight Level 40 on a direct track for the Exeter NDB.
At 19:42 the crew changed frequency to Exeter approach and started to receive radar positioning for runway 26. The cloud was given as one okta at 700 feet, 5 oktas at 1000 feet, and 7 oktas at 2500 feet, with a visibility of 13 kilometres and a surface wind of 280 degrees at 7 knots.
At 19:44 the crew performed the approach checks, which included selecting the flaps to 20 degrees and switching on the fuel heaters. As fuel heat was selected, there was a momentary flash from one of the two low fuel pressure warning lights and after a brief discussion the crew opened the fuel crossfeed cocks, which had been closed since their pre-flight checks at Exeter.
At 19:50 the aircraft was at 2000 feet QFE, just below cloud and about 8 miles from touchdown. The flaps were still at 20 degrees and the undercarriage was retracted. Suddenly both low pressure fuel warning lights illuminated and in rapid succession all four Dart engines lost power. The aircraft commander made an immediate 'Mayday' call to Exeter and at the same time gave a warning to the passengers on the cabin address system. Knowing the local terrain, the commander turned left in the best hope of finding a suitable area for a forced landing. With the flaps still set at 20 degrees, the aircraft descended on a heading of approximately 190 degrees (magnetic) along a small grassy valley studded with trees, the average elevation of which was 130 feet amsl. As the aircraft crossed the boundary of the field, known as Coronation Meadow the port wing struckthe top of an oak tree. It then touched down with the nose well up, with the stall warning in operation and the control column hard back. The rear of the fuselage struck the ground first and almost simultaneously the port wing struck another oak tree causing a noticeable yaw to the left as the nose pitched down. This impact resulted in the outer section of the port wing breaking away and only held on by the distorted No.1 Rolls-Royce Dart engine and nacelle, less its propeller. Without hitting any further obstructions the aircraft came to rest after 307 metres on a heading of 074 degrees (magnetic). Five sheep were killed in the field with others and several horses scattered in all directions.
The crew assisted with the subsequent evacuation, which was orderly and there were no injuries. The total flight time since take-off from Santander had been 2 hrs 20 minutes, with a fuel consumption, according to the flow meters, of 3458 litres. On examination, all fuel tanks were found to be empty.
CAUSE: "The accident was caused by the aircraft running out of fuel due to the crew's erroneous belief that there was sufficient fuel on board to complete the flight. The aircraft's unreliable fuel gauges, the company pilots' method of establishing the total fuel quantity and lack of precise company instructions regarding the use of dripsticks were major contributory factors. Meter indications on the refuelling vehicle at Santander, which cannot have reflected the quantity of fuel delivered, are also considered to have been a probable contributory factor."
Captain Whittaker was dismissed by Alidair but continued flying other aircraft types for a short period before retiring to his home in Jersey, Channel Islands.
Subsequent discussions by commercial pilots on the pprune.org website have highlighted that by their calculations if there was no fuel uplift in Santander then the aircraft would run out of fuel on the return journey almost exactly where it did!
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