What happened
On 18 June 2015, a private flight involving an Auster J5F Aiglet Trainer, registration G-AMZT, was performing a straight-in approach to Runway 29 at Bolt Head Airfield in Devon. The airfield is a grass strip that lacks white runway markings. During the approach, the pilot misidentified a strip of land cultivated with barley, which was roughly the same dimensions as the runway, as the actual landing surface.
Upon touching down within the barley crop, the aircraft decelerated and came to a halt within approximately 25 metres. The momentum caused the aircraft to pitch forward onto its back. There were no injuries to the pilot or the single passenger on board, and both occupants were able to exit the aircraft through the passenger-side window. The aircraft sustained damage to its fuselage.
The investigation
Investigators examined the airfield layout and the circumstances of the approach. It was noted that the cultivated barley strip sat between the runway and the airfield boundary fence. The pilot suggested that while joining the overhead pattern might have helped, the primary difficulty was the lack of visual cues. The investigation also noted that the incident shared significant similarities with a separate accident involving a different aircraft, G-TAGR, which had occurred nearly two weeks prior under nearly identical circumstances involving the same crop.