Peterborough - Peterborough

On December 18, 1983 at 10:42 AM, Peterborough - Peterborough experienced a crash involving Pilatus PC-6 (Porter & Turbo Porter), operated by Peterborough Parachute Centre, with the event recorded near Peterborough Cambridgeshire.

The flight was categorized as skydiving / paratroopers and the reported phase was flight at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

9 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 9 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft took off on the first flight of the day with eight parachutists, and a reported fuel load of 70 US gallons. At an altitude of approximately 11,000 feet it was decided that the cloud cover at that time was obscuring the dropping zone to an unacceptable degree, and so the detail was cancelled. During the subsequent descent, on rolling out of a left turn at about 4,500 feet, a bang was heard, and the left aileron was seen to have become partially detached. After a violent lateral oscillation of the control column lasting a few seconds, the right aileron also became partially detached. At this stage the parachutists successfully abandoned the aircraft on the orders of the pilot. The aircraft then adopted an angle of bank to the right of approximately 45° despite the application of full left rudder. The descent was continued until the pilot realized that the aircraft was approaching the village of Yarwell; he therefore applied engine power to ensure that the aircraft would clear the houses. The bank angle then increased to 60° and the aircraft struck the ground right wing low, coming to rest upright, and facing the opposite direction. The pilot sustained minor injuries, and there was no fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-BIZP, MSN 812, year of manufacture 1981.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 52.5726°, -0.2427°.