What happened
The flight originated at Broxbourne under initially favorable weather conditions. The crew proceeded northwest across England until reaching the Pennines, where they encountered dense mist and significant headwinds of up to 60 km/h. These adverse conditions made the aircraft difficult to control, prompting the pilot to initiate a turn back for a potential forced landing.
Before the aircraft could clear the low cloud layer, it collided with rising terrain on Burbage Edge. The impact caused the airframe to overturn, trapping the two occupants inside for approximately thirty minutes. Both individuals eventually managed to extricate themselves from the wreckage and walked to a nearby AA box located close to the Cat & Fiddle public house.
Findings
The accident occurred due to the aircraft striking rising ground while in low cloud conditions. The primary contributing factors were the sudden onset of thick mist and strong headwinds, which degraded controllability and prevented the crew from clearing the terrain during their return maneuver.