Aircraft and Flight Details
A Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow II, registered G-BKFZ (year of manufacture 1976), powered by a Lycoming IO-360-C1C piston engine, was involved in an accident on 13 February 2008 at approximately 1535 UTC. The flight was a private repositioning from Spanhoe Airfield to Shacklewell Lodge, near Rutland Water, Leicestershire. The sole occupant, an 85-year-old male pilot holding a Private Pilot’s Licence with an expired Instrument Meteorological Conditions rating, had 972 total flying hours (850 on type). He sustained fatal injuries in the crash, and the aircraft was destroyed.
Meteorological Conditions
Conditions at the time were characterized by rapidly changing fog. The Met Office provided an aftercast indicating the accident occurred on a boundary between clear skies with haze/mist to the west and very poor low cloud with fog and hill fog to the east. Visibility in the fog was reported as low as 100–150 meters. A satellite image at 1530 UTC showed the fog bank covering eastern England. The pilot had requested cloudbase information from RAF Cottesmore shortly before the accident and was advised of clear skies and 5,000 meters visibility in haze at that location. However, many witnesses on the ground near Rutland Water described a sudden transition from bright sunshine to dense fog within 15–20 minutes.
History of the Flight
After maintenance at Spanhoe, the pilot intended to fly to Shacklewell Lodge. He and his wife drove to Spanhoe to check weather, with the wife planning to retrieve him by car later. At Spanhoe, the pilot discussed poor weather possibilities and told his wife he would return if unable to land. He installed a portable GPS, completed pre-flight checks, and departed from Runway 27 at 1527 UTC. The aircraft climbed to 1,200 ft above a cloud layer and contacted RAF Cottesmore for clearance through the Wittering MATZ. The pilot acknowledged the cloudbase information but made no further transmissions. GPS data showed the aircraft flew eastward, then turned left with a 20° bank at a speed exceeding 110 knots before descending.
Witness Accounts and Crash
Witnesses near Rutland Water reported hearing engine sounds that varied—some described a constant diving noise, others a faltering sound as if cutting out. Several people saw the aircraft emerge from fog flying low in a shallow descent before it struck trees and broke up. A police helicopter and an air ambulance attempted to reach the site but were unable to penetrate the thick fog. The pilot’s portable GPS, damaged but recoverable, provided time, position, and altitude data for every 30 seconds of the flight. The first GPS fix placed the aircraft at the eastern end of Spanhoe runway at 1527:27. Eight additional track points were recorded before the crash. The reason for the aircraft's descent into foggy conditions could not be clearly established.