Determines Yak-52 Aircraft Was 'Unfit' For The Purpose For Which It Was Being Used

A report from the U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch says that a Yak-52 airplane being flown by RAF test pilot Flight Lieutenant Alexandre Jay Parr, of the Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS) at Boscombe Down on July 8, 2018 was unfit for the purpose for which it was being used. Parr was fatally injured when he attempted a forced landing in a field near Dinton in the airplane.

The Salisbury Journal reports that the plane was privately owned and contracted into MoD Boscombe Down by QinetiQ. It was being used as part of an annual training week in Yak-52 aircraft for test pilot students. It had completed several flights before the accident flight.

Investigators found that several students had noted "various unserviceabilities" with the aircraft but had not reported them.

Among those discrepancies were inoperative RPM gauges in both the front and rear cockpits, inoperative gyro compasses, an inoperative altimeter, and a failed rear cockpit attitude indicator.

Flt Lt Parr was conducting aerobatic maneuvers when the engine on the Yak-52 failed and he transmitted a Mayday call about 10:30 a.m., according to the report.

"These failures would have denied the accident crew critical information during the emergency and likely caused distraction and confusion," the report states.

The investigation also found that the aircraft had not had an engine overhaul in 24 years because it never reached the 750-hour TBO for the aircraft, which the AAIB said was "legal" but "questionable".

The agency also said that QinetiQ had depended on a subcontractor to ensure the aircraft was safe to fly during the training week. "Overall, no stakeholder grasped the reality of a sub-contractor operating a borrowed aeroplane or the implications that this introduced either in the context of unassessed risk or the chain of command's understanding of what was actually being delivered. In short, stakeholders assumed all was well but did not check the detail with qualified persons," the report states.

"This led directly to ETPS personnel flying in an aircraft that was unfit for purpose and operating in contravention of the Air Navigation Order."

Finally, the AAIB determined that Flt Lt Parr had logged only one hour in a Yak-52 in the previous year. "It is reasonably believed that his lack of recent practice forced landings reduced his ability to carry out a successful forced landing on the day."

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/air-accidents-investigation-branch