What happened
On 4 April 2009, an Escapade microlight, registration G-CDLE, was conducting a private flight from Eastbach Farm Airfield to Shobdon Airfield in Herefordshire. While approaching Shobdon, the pilot was performing avoiding manoeuvres to stay clear of a departing aircraft. During this process, the aircraft entered a sharp left turn and subsequently entered a spin from approximately 500 ft aal. The aircraft plummeted in a vertical descent, impacting a field roughly 150 m north of the runway. The impact resulted in a post-impact fire, and both the pilot and the passenger sustained fatal injuries.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage and interviewed several witnesses, including an airborne pilot who had been flying nearby. This witness observed the aircraft performing a sharp turn and appearing to stall almost immediately, followed by a nose-low vertical descent. Ground witnesses also reported seeing the aircraft in a spiral dive at a low altitude.
Technical examination of the G-CDLE wreckage revealed that the aircraft's structure had been heavily damaged by a high-speed vertical impact. The investigation found that the wing structure had migrated forward and rotated, causing the fuel tank to strike the engine cowling and puncture, which contributed to the subsequent fire. Analysis of the propeller blades indicated that the engine was still rotating at significant speed at the moment of impact. No mechanical failures in the flight control systems were identified.