Pilot’s heartstopping last seconds before plane crash landed near Cheltenham

15/12/2023

The final terrifying moments before an aircraft crashed onto the central reservation of a busy dual carriageway in Gloucestershire has been laid bare in a report into the crash. The Air Accident Investigation Branch [1] (AAIB) has released a report with includes details of how the Fournier FR6B-100 came to crash land on the busy A40 Golden Valley road between Gloucester and Cheltenham. The plane was heading towards Gloucestershire Airport just before 6pm on Thursday, August 10, when the pilot realised that there was a problem with the engine.

The pilot took action in an attempt to get the engine to run correctly but, horrifyingly, it stopped completely. The pilot of the light aircraft then attempted to glide towards the airfield but realised that they were descending far too quickly and had too little altitude to clear the trees near the runway. In that split second, the decision was made to land on the dual carriageway [2].

Miraculously, nobody was hurt in the crash and no vehicles collided with the stricken plane. The road was closed in both directions for several hours and the incident caused traffic chaos in the area. The AAIB report reads: “The aircraft was approaching Gloucestershire Airport and descending at low power with the carburettor heat set to OFF.

The engine began to run roughly and the pilot selected carburettor heat ON, but the engine then stopped. “The pilot manoeuvred the aircraft to glide toward the airfield but, on short final and concerned the aircraft would not clear trees short of the runway, the pilot made a right turn and landed on the central reservation of the A40 dual carriageway. “The cause of the engine failure was not positively determined.

There was significant damage to the aircraft.”

References

^ Air Accident Investigation Branch (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
^ land on the dual carriageway (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
^ B-2 stealth bomber ‘DEATH 31’ diverts to RAF Fairford (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
^ Anger as ‘cars parked over graves’ in churchyard (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)