Enstone - Bristol

On July 18, 1996 at 11:35 AM, Enstone - Bristol experienced a crash involving Bristol 170 Freighter, operated by Trans-Provincial Airlines - TPA, with the event recorded near Enstone Oxfordshire.

The flight was categorized as positioning and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

8 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 8 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 6, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The weather at the departure airfield consisted of a light and variable wind, good visibility and a temperature of 20ºC. At the start of the take-off run the aircraft, which was being flown by the copilot, who is also an experienced pilot with some 60 hours on type, began to swing to the right. Corrective action caused it to swing to the left but, after further correction,the aircraft continued accelerating and swing to the right. The Bristol Freighter is well known for its tendency to swing on takeoff. The commander joined the co-pilot on the controls and attempted to assist in correcting the right-hand swing. It became apparent to the pilots that they would be unable to prevent the aircraft running over the edge of the runway and, as there were people standing by the edge and a small control tower building behind them, they applied full up-elevator in an effort to avoid a collision. Because of the low airspeed at which this occurred, the aircraft stalled and the left wing tip hit the ground. This caused the aircraft to turn so that it was then travelling sideways which resulted in the landing gear collapsing as it touched the runway. The aircraft then slid off the runway onto the grass. There was no fire and the only injuries were sustained by three of the aircraft passengers.

Aircraft reference details include registration C-FDFC, MSN 13218, year of manufacture 1954.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 51.9159°, -1.4538°.