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Piper PA-23-250 Turbo Aztec D Grand Prix (Bahamas) Ltd N6645Y 27-3960 Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 0 Written off (damaged beyond repair) Accident Arkley golf course, Arkley, Barnet, Hertfordshire - United Kingdom Approach Private Marseille, France Elstree AIB

"The accident occurred as the pilot was attempting a visual contact approach at night into Elstree aerodrome with a reported visibility of 800 metres . After radar advisory service had positioned the aircraft 4 nautical miles (nm) east of the runway with further descent at the pilot's discretion he was heard to call Elstree tower and give his position as 'finals.' The aircraft subsequently collided with trees and crashed 3 nm (5 .6 km) from touchdown of runway 27 . All six occupants were killed.



The report concludes that it was not possible to establish the exact cause of the accident but the possibility that the pilot underestimated his range from the airfield and in consequence descended prematurely in conditions of thick fog cannot be excluded."



Among the six occupants killed was Graham Hill, ex-Formula One World Champion in 1962 and 1968, who retired from racing in 1975 to run his own F1 team. The crash also resulted in the deaths of team manager Ray Brimble, mechanics Tony Alcock and Terry Richards, up-and-coming driver Tony Brise and designer Andy Smallman; all from the Embassy Hill team.

Sources:

1. http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/14-1976%20N6645Y.pdf 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Hill#Death 3. http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=6645Y&x=-797&y=-543 4. http://planecrashinfo.com/famous1970s.htm 5. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/328868-graham-hill-crash-what-verdict.html

Accident investigation:

Investigating agency: AIB Status: Investigation completed Duration: 10 months Download report: Final report

Images:



London - Heathrow (EGLL / LHR)

1970; (c) M D West

Photo of N6645Y courtesy AirHistory.net

26 May 1971 at Kidlington; (c) Bob J Hobbs/NA3T

Revision history: