Aircraft and Pilot Information
The aircraft involved was a Cessna F177RG, registration G-AZFP, powered by one Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 piston engine. It was manufactured in 1971. The pilot, aged 49, held a Private Pilot's Licence with IMC and Night Rating. His total flying experience was 627 hours, of which 507 were on type. In the last 90 days, he had flown 35 hours, and in the last 28 days, 6 hours.
Flight Narrative
On 8 August 1998 at 1600 UTC, the pilot planned to return the aircraft to its base farm strip in North Yorkshire. However, the weather proved unsuitable, so he diverted to another strip. While on the ground, he attempted to telephone the owner of his base strip to inquire about local weather and strip conditions but was unable to make contact. He had encountered no rain during the day, and the strip to which he had diverted was dry. When the weather cleared, he departed for the 20 nm flight to his base. The weather was now fine with a light north-easterly surface wind.
On arrival, the pilot elected to land on Runway 20, which has an available landing distance of 350 metres with an uphill slope. The aircraft touched down approximately 90 metres into the strip. When the pilot applied the brakes, he felt no retardation. As he approached the boundary fence, he slewed the aircraft to the right but was unable to stop before the tailplane contacted the fence and the propeller struck a wooden gate.
Damage and Probable Cause
The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the propeller and tailplane. The pilot stated that the cause of the accident was the runway surface being saturated, although there was no indication of this from the air.