Spitfire Tr.9, G-TRIX, 8 April 2000

Spitfire Tr.9, G-TRIX AAIB Bulletin No: 10/2000 Ref: EW/C2000/04/02 Category: 1.2 Aircraft Type and Registration: Spitfire Tr.9, G-TRIX No & Type of Engines: 1 Packard Merlin 266 piston engine Year of Manufacture: 1944 Date & Time (UTC): 8 April 2000 at 0804 hrs Location: Goodwood Airfield, Chichester Type of Flight: Private Persons on Board: Crew - 2 - Passengers - None Injuries: Crew - 2 - Fatal - Passengers - N/A Nature of Damage: Aircraft destroyed Commander's Licence: Airline Transport Pilot's Licence Commander's Age: 49 years Commander's Flying Experience: 8,440 hours Last 90 days - 160 hours Last 28 days - 40 hours Information Source: AAIB Field Investigation History of the aircraft This aircraft, registered as G-TRIX but generally known by its service serial number PV202, had been built at Castle Bromwich in 1944 as a Spitfire Mark IX. It saw extensive operational service within Western Europe between October 1944 and May 1945, principally in the service of No 412 (RCAF) Squadron. In July 1945 the aircraft was put into storage where it remained until July 1950, when it was bought by Vickers Supermarine for conversion into a two-seat trainer, Mark Tr.9, for sale to the Irish Air Corps. In 1960 the aircraft was withdrawn from service and used as an instructional airframe at Baldonnel, near Dublin, until 1968. Between 1968 and 1980 the aircraft was held by a number of private owners and then underwent an extensive rebuild over 10 years, flying again in February 1990. One feature of this rebuild was deletion of the 'bubble' rear canopy, replacing it with a conventional Spitfire canopy. The aircraft was owned and operated by one individual between 1991 and July 1999 and was displayed extensively at airshows both in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Background to the flight Ownership of the aircraft had been transferred in July 1999; the new owner was a South African national. He decided that the aircraft should remain in the United Kingdom for an indeterminate period. For clarity, in this Bulletin the new owner of the aircraft is be referred to as 'the owner' and the pilot who was supervising him during his familiarisation flying is referred to as 'the pilot'. The Spitfire is classified as a single engine aeroplane (landplane) of which the maximum total weight authorised does not exceed 5,700 kg therefore the owner was entitled to fly the aircraft in the UK under the privileges of his South African Licence. The flights were not for the award or renewal of a licence or rating, consequently the pilot did not require a Flying Instructor rating in order to supervise the owner. On all the pertinent flights, including the accident flight, it was the pilot who had signed the Technical Log and is therefore recognised as the aircraft commander. He wrote comments in the Remarks column of his Flying Log Book and these entries provided some insight into the purpose of each flight. The owner's name/initials were used in these entries and are denoted by '*' in this Bulletin. The owner first flew with the pilot on 12 September 1999, at Goodwood. On this occasion he occupied the rear seat and the pilot recorded "FAMIL-(* BACKSEAT)" in his Log Book. The following day four flights were recorded. The first, at Goodwood, lasted 20 minutes and was annotated "TRG- (* F.SEAT)" . The next three flights were from Goodwood to RAF Wittering to Duxford to Goodwood; a total time of 2 hours. These were each annotated "TRANSIT TRG(*FS)". It is reasonable to assume that (*FS) indicates that the owner occupied the front seat. On 14 September 1999 there was a 40 minute flight from Goodwood to RAF Halton, again annotated "TRANSIT TRG(*FS)". A second 50 minute flight that day ended in a diversion to Luton because of poor weather. Shortly after this the owner returned to South Africa. He had flown a total of 3:50 hours in the front seat of G-TRIX most of which was in transit and none of which was solo. The owner returned to the UK on 1 April 2000 and arrangements were made for him to fly G-TRIX during the following week. It is understood that the purpose of the series of flights was for the owner to achieve a satisfactory standard to fly the aircraft solo. Visual circuit The normal circuit height at Goodwood is 1,200 feet agl but it was the usual practice in the Spitfire to fly an oval visual circuit at a height of about 900 agl. This gives optimum visibility from the front cockpit and is particularly important for the rear seat occupant as forward visibility is obstructed by the front cockpit and its occupant, and downwards visibility is obstructed by the wing. After take off the aircraft is flown in a continuous climbing turn onto the downwind leg and spacing is achieved by tracking the wingtip along the runway. When the wingtip is opposite the planned touchdown point a continuous descending turn is flown onto final approach, aiming to roll the wings level shortly before the touchdown point. Ideally, the airspeed at this point should be about 85 mph. History of the flight On Saturday 8 April 2000 at 0728 hrs, the owner and the pilot arrived at Goodwood Airfield in a Super Cub. They then pushed the Spitfire out of the hangar and were seen to carry out a 'walkround' pre-flight inspection. At 0752 hrs, the pilot called the Flight Information Service Officer (FISO) and said that they were taxiing and would like to use Runway 32 if the wind was acceptable. The FISO told him that it was southeasterly less than 5 kt. There was more discussion about the wind as the aircraft taxied and when, at 0800 hrs, the pilot said that they were ready for departure, the FISO replied: "TAKE OFF AT YOUR DISCRETION - RIGHT HAND CIRCUIT - SURFACE WIND EASTERLY LESS THAN FIVE" . The first circuit was uneventful and culminated in a touch-and-go landing. On the second circuit, there was a Downwind call from the aircraft at 0803:33 hrs. This circuit to the end of the downwind leg appeared similar to the first with eye witnesses estimating the height to be around 900 feet agl. Eye witnesses also made various observations about the aircraft and engine during this time, however none could be meaningfully related to the subsequent outcome. The FISO saw the aircraft in the base leg turn and, as no 'Final" call was received, at 0803:48 hrs he transmitted: "INDIA XRAY LAND AT YOUR DISCRETION - WIND CALM". He recalled that the aircraft was about half way round the final turn at the time, however there was no acknowledgement of this transmission. The FISO did not notice anything about the aircraft's position or height at this point which caused him any great concern for its safety. Several informed witnesses observed the aircraft in the later stage of the right turn onto final approach; it appeared to be very low and the nose attitude higher than normal. They heard the power increase and saw the aircraft roll through the wings level attitude to more than 30° left bank. The left wing passed through a small tree and struck the banking alongside the motor racing track. The aircraft continued to roll to the left, impacted the racetrack inverted and continued across it before coming to rest on the grass. The AFS were rapidly on the scene and quickly extinguished a small fuel fire. Several people who had seen the accident also went to the scene to render assistance. Meteorology A local observation was made at the time of the accident: Surface wind 090°/<5 kt Visibility 3,000 metres Cloud Nil QNH/QFE 1025/1022 mb There was no other significant weather. Engineering examination The wreckage was examined by AAIB both at the accident site and after removal to the AAIB at Farnborough. This examination showed that, at the initial impact with the embankment, G-TRIX was structurally intact and the flying controls were intact and properly connected. The landing g

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Spitfire Tr.9, G-TRIX, 8 April 2000

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