Incident Overview

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.Share on: