On September 7, 2024 a two-seated private Jodel D120 aircraft crashed in Belhus Woods Country Park.
The government’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has published the report of its investigation.
The report claimed that the purpose of the flight in which the crash occurred “is not known”.
The pilot, who was “seriously injured” had flown from his home airfield, Farthing Corner in Kent, to Damyns Hall Aerodrome, Essex, earlier that day.
The crash occurred during the following flight.
Shortly after departing from runway 21 the pilot transmitted a ‘mayday’ call on reporting an engine issue, the report said.
The aircraft struck the ground in a wooded area of a field in the country park, around one kilometre south-east of the airfield.
The report detailed that during the final moments of the flight the aircraft entered a tightening left turn to the west suggesting the plane may have entered a spin before it struck the ground.
At a maximum height of 900 ft above mean sea level, the aircraft started to descend and continued the left turn until control was lost.
The aircraft was “destroyed in the accident”, according to investigators.
Alex Sarzi-Sartori, who was at the West Essex Bowmen archery club by the park at the time of the crash, feared that he’d have to run as he saw the plane heading his way.
On the day of the crash, he described to the Romford Recorder the moment when he saw the plane dropping very low and quietly as the propeller wasn’t moving.
He said: “It was going away from us for most of the time and then it started turning around and I realised it was actually aiming for a field to land.”
When he got closer to the crash site, he claimed he saw the propeller “swung around” and “pinned” the pilot to his seat.
Alex added: “There was fuel gushing out in big quantities so I thought we had to move him because we thought it could go up in flames. It was quite shocking.”
The report said the pilot remained in hospital for some time after the accident and “does not remember the flight or the days preceding it”.
The plane was built in 1960 and had been owned by the pilot since 1996.
It had a valid permit to fly that was due to expire in March 2025, investigators wrote.
The engine was recovered from the ground and examined but the report claimed that no evidence was found to suggest why the pilot reported an engine issue.
Ultimately, the report confirmed the cause of the engine issue was not determined.
It said: “With the pilot not being able to recall the flight and with no recording devices on the aircraft able to capture what happened during the event and with no findings from the examination of the aircraft, it is not possible to determine with certainty what occurred in this accident.”
