Incident Overview

Date: Sunday 12 March 1950
Aircraft Type: Avro 689 Tudor 5
Owner/operator: Fairflight
Registration Number: G-AKBY
Location: near Llandow – ÿ United Kingdom
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 80 / Occupants: 83
Component Affected: Aircraft – Specifically, the elevator system and control surfaces.Aircraft – Specifically, the elevator system and control surfaces.
Category: Accident
A Fairflight Avro Tudor G-AKBY crashed following a loss of control during approach to Llandow RAF Station, Wales, resulting in the deaths of 80 passengers and three survivors. The aircraft was chartered for a return flight from Llandow to Dublin, Ireland, and experienced a sudden increase in power and throttle application while on final approach to Runway 28. The aircraft then stalled and crashed into a field 2500 feet short of the runway, likely due to improper loading conditions.A Fairflight Avro Tudor G-AKBY crashed following a loss of control during approach to Llandow RAF Station, Wales, resulting in the deaths of 80 passengers and three survivors. The aircraft was chartered for a return flight from Llandow to Dublin, Ireland, and experienced a sudden increase in power and throttle application while on final approach to Runway 28. The aircraft then stalled and crashed into a field 2500 feet short of the runway, likely due to improper loading conditions.

Description

A Fairflight Avro Tudor crashed following a loss of control while on approach to Llandow RAF Station, United Kingdom , killing 80 occupants; 3 survived the accident. Avro Tudor G-AKBY was chartered for a return flight from Llandow, Wales to Dublin (DUB), Ireland. The passengers attended a rugby match between the teams of Ireland and Wales. While on final approach to Llandow’s runway 28 there was a slight tendency to undershoot. When 800 yards from the runway and at a height of 150 feet there was an additional use of power followed by the sudden application of full throttle. The aircraft rose steeply to 300 feet attaining a nose-up attitude of 35 degrees to the vertical. The aircraft then stalled and crashed into a field 2500 feet short of the runway. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The loading conditions of the aircraft which gave a centre of gravity position too far aft and outside the limit in the relevant Certificate of Airworthiness and therefor insuffucient elevator control under conditions of low speed and acute instability.”

Primary Cause

Loading conditions of the aircraft, specifically a center of gravity position too far aft and outside the limit, resulted in insufficient elevator control under low speed and acute instability conditions.Loading conditions of the aircraft, specifically a center of gravity position too far aft and outside the limit, resulted in insufficient elevator control under low speed and acute instability conditions.

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