Three people were seriously injured after a plane lost engine power causing it to crash shortly after taking off from Teesside Airport, a report has revealed.
The report, recently published by the Government's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), examines the circumstances behind the crash last September.
Emergency services including the Great North Air Ambulance attended the scene and the crash, which happened shortly after 8.30am on September 25 last year, shut the airport and led to delayed and diverted flights.
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The plane involved was a four-seater Grumman AA-5 which had undergone an annual maintenance inspection just days before the crash.
Describing the circumstances leading up to it, the AAIB report says: "The aircraft suffered a partial loss of engine power very shortly after takeoff from Runway 23 at Teesside International Airport.
"The pilot, believing the aircraft was outside the airport boundary, attempted a turnback to the airport to land.
"The aircraft stalled during the turn and struck the ground west of the runway near the Runway 05 threshold.
"The three occupants all sustained serious injuries."
The report also revealed air traffic control tried to contact the local authority emergency services by telephone but had some difficulties in making contact, stating “it took a long while to speak to someone,” in order to request that the fire service attend the scene.
The pilot was in hospital for several months.
He described the moments before the crash for the AAIB report which states: "At what the pilot recalled was around 400 ft agl he described the engine as losing all power and recalled lowering the pitch attitude to maintain speed.
"There was a field ahead which, on previous flights, he had considered in the event of a forced landing.
"However, it contained animals, farm vehicles and people, so he considered it unsuitable.
"The other terrain ahead was the River Tees and so, in the pilot’s opinion, a landing ahead was not viable."
The pilot turned back to land on the runway but the aircraft struck the ground with its left wingtip.
Following a significant nose impact, it then rotated about 180°, coming to rest 11-metres beyond the main impact ground scar.
The report states: "There was a strong smell of fuel at the accident site, but the RFFS (Rescue and Firefighting Service) had sprayed the aircraft with foam shortly after their arrival and no fire had occurred."
It adds: "A lack of practice at conducting turnback manoeuvres would have made the pilot’s workload extremely high.
"He was using a high AOB, close to the ground at low speeds whilst under significant pressure.
"His workload was further increased by conducting the engine failure checklist.
"These factors would have made a successful turnback with very limited power extremely challenging.
"It is likely that the attention of the pilot became focussed on achieving the required turn to reach his selected landing area and that he did not adjust the airspeed to avoid the accelerated stall."
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Following analysis of the plane's engine after the crash, it was found that a portion of the accelerator pump discharge tube had released from the carburettor and been drawn into a cylinder by the induction airflow.
The discharge tube had broken up due to contact with the inlet and exhaust valves, during which the ability to seal the cylinder during the engine power stroke was lost.
The engine was therefore running on only three cylinders, resulting in high vibration and a considerable loss of power.
In concluding its report, the AAIB goes on to make three safety recommendations which are:
- That the UK Civil Aviation Authority require ab initio pilots to undergo training in the management of partial power loss situations in single‑engine fixed-wing aeroplanes.
- That the UK Civil Aviation Authority provide detailed guidance on techniques for managing partial power loss situations and to promote their use by instructors and examiners when conducting training for a rating revalidation in single-engine fixed-wing aeroplanes.
- That the UK Civil Aviation Authority updates its General Aviation safety promotions to include information for pilots regarding techniques for managing partial power loss situations in single-engine fixed‑wing aeroplanes.
A spokesperson for Teesside International Airport said: “In the aftermath of this terrible incident, the airport was closed to allow the AAIB to carry out a thorough investigation into its cause.
"We worked closely with them to support their important work and it’s good to see the report published in full and the learnings shared to hopefully prevent similar incidents in the future.
“We’d like to thank the emergency services that attended on the day for their response, and our thoughts remain with those involved in the incident.“
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