Piper PA-280181 Archer 2 G-EMAZ, 4 September 2005
Piper PA-280181 Archer 2, G-EMAZ
Summary:
The pilot and his passenger were returning to Cardiff Airport, from Ireland. The aircraft was reported overdue by Cardiff Airport to the London Area Control Centre and subsequently full overdue action was taken. The Search and Rescue operation used British and Irish lifeboats, search and rescue helicopters and a RAF Nimrod aircraft. Aircraft wreckage and two bodies were found that night by the lifeboats 11 nm north of Strumble Head, near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. It was appears that the aeroplane had inadvertently entered IMC on its planned route. While attempting to regain VMC control was lost, possibly as the result of spatial disorientation. The aircraft then descended rapidly, in a spiral dive, until it crashed in the sea. The circumstances of the accident to G-EMAZ could be explained by some form of brief and temporary incapacitation of the pilot, brought on by a medical or toxicological reason, without this necessarily leaving any evidence.
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