The Cessna Citation I that crashed near Biggin Hill aerodrome south east of London, UK on 30 March was attempting to turn onto final approach having suffered engine problems. It came down on the edge of a residential area, hitting a house, but no-one on the ground was killed.

The aircraft was VP-BGE, a Bermuda-registered aircraft that entered service in 1975, according to Flight's ACAS database. Owned by the UK division of US fixed-base operator Ross Aviation, the aircraft was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney JT15D-1 engines, and has notched up a total of 5,780h and 5,242 flight cycles.

Both pilots and all three passengers died in the accident, which occurred shortly after take-off from runway 21 bound for Pau, France. The impact point was about 3.7km (2nm) north east of the threshold of Biggin Hill's runway 21, close to the extended centreline.

Just after take-off the crew put out an emergency call to Biggin Hill reporting engine trouble, citing severe engine vibration, and a pilot who reports that he was on short final approach at the time heard the Citation being cleared to return and land at his discretion. The normal visual circuit at Biggin Hill is a right-hand one because it takes aircraft over open country until turning onto final approach for 21, when the flight path passes over Farnborough village. It has not been confirmed by official sources whether the pilot in this case attempted recovery to 21 using a right- or left-hand circuit.

Shortly after the initital emergency call, the light aircraft pilot heard the crew report that the aircraft was "going down", and he says he witnessed the aircraft "drop out of the sky", noting that the aircraft's radio remained selected to transmit until impact, when he saw a column of black smoke rising.

The aircraft hit a house in the village of Farnborough, Kent, [not the town associated with the international air show], but the residents were away.



Source: FlightGlobal.com

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