1963 BAC One-Eleven test crash

British Aircraft Corporation

Industry	Aerospace
Headquarters	United Kingdom

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

The 1963 BAC One-Eleven prototype crash was a deadly incident involving a British Aircraft Corporation test aircraft on 22 October 1963 near Chicklade in Wiltshire, England during a flight test. All seven personnel aboard the BAC One-Eleven lost their lives.

Accident

This tragedy happened while conducting a test flight of the initial prototype BAC One-Eleven (registration G-ASHG), which departed from Wisley Airfield with seven crew members under the command of Captain Mike Lithgow. The flight was the fifth evaluation aimed at examining stability and handling when approaching and recovering from a stall with different centre of gravity settings. Beginning at an altitude of approximately 16,000 feet (4,900 m), with the flaps set to 8°, the aircraft entered a stable stalled condition and descended rapidly while maintaining a horizontal attitude, ultimately impacting the terrain at minimal forward velocity. The plane disintegrated upon impact at Cratt Hill, near the village of Chicklade in southern Wiltshire, and caught fire, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members.

This was the fifth stall test conducted that day, with the accident occurring just 23 minutes after takeoff from Wisley. The crew consisted of Lt. Cdr. M J Lithgow OBE, Chief Test Pilot; Capt. R Rymer (Test Pilot); B J Prior (Aerodynamicist); C J Webb (Designer); R A F Wright (Senior Observer); G R Poulter (Observer); and D J Clark (Observer).

Cause

The investigation determined that the aircraft had entered a stable stalled state from which recovery was impossible because the airflow over the elevators was disrupted by the wings. This incident marked the first fatal accident linked to what is now known as deep stall, a phenomenon specific to rear-engine T-tail aircraft configurations.

Aftermath

Following the identification of the deep stall phenomenon, straightforward countermeasures were implemented. These included the installation of stick-shakers to alert pilots of an imminent stall and stick-pushers that automatically engage the elevators to lower the aircraft’s nose before a stall occurs, while the tailplane and pitch controls remain responsive.

Memorial

In October 2013, a stone monument was unveiled at the site of the accident, commemorating the seven individuals who lost their lives. The dedication event was attended by the commanding officer of the Royal Navy Historic Flight, Lord Margadale (the landowner), and relatives of the crew members. The memorial features an excerpt from the annotation of the 1817 edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "...and everywhere the blue sky belongs to them and is their appointed rest and their native country."

See also

• 1966 Felthorpe Trident crash
• British European Airways Flight 548

External links

• https://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/2017-12/G-ASHG.pdf
• http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19631022-0
• http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1963/1963-52.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120402184556/http://www.baaa-acro.com/photos/BAc111-BAC-Bournemouth.jpg
• 1963 Pathe footage titled 'The Price of Progress' showing the crash location and BAC 111 prototype G-ASHG in British United livery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdw9TcHGTZI