A new report has revealed that the aircraft involved in a crash that killed a young pilot had no identifiable defects, though investigators say there is not enough evidence to confirm this.
Harvey Dunmore, 21, from Middlesbrough, died when the Piper PA-23-250 aircraft he was flying nose-dived as it approached Bagby Airfield, near Thirsk, on 6 July 2023.
At the time of the incident, three men aged 37, 55 and 68, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Following inquiries by North Yorkshire Police, they were later released under investigation.
Mr Dunmore had taken off from Bagby airfield that morning and flew to Deauville, France, where he picked up five passengers before flying them to Abbeyshrule, Ireland.
The accident happened during the final leg of the return journey to Bagby, when Mr Dunmore was solo in the aircraft.
Radar and CCTV confirmed that Mr Dunmore had made a radio call to Bagby to say he was four miles from landing at the airfield.
Shortly after, the aircraft’s descent then steepened dramatically. It struck trees before crashing into the ground, destroying the aircraft and sparking a fire. The accident was deemed “not survivable,” by emergency services and aircraft officials.
A witness reported seeing the plane “suddenly pitch nose-down from a low height, wings-level and diving to the ground.”
An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), published on Thursday (26 June), confirmed that although there were “no identifiable defects” in the aircraft’s systems, a pitch trim runaway was considered to be the most likely cause of the crash.
A pitch trim runaway is a malfunction in which the electric trim, which helps conrol the angle of the aircraft’s nose, runs uncommanded.
This can make the plane difficult to control and may require “considerable input force by the pilot to regain control.” If the system isn’t quickly turned off, the pilot could lose control of the plane, especially if it’s flying low.
Investigators looked into other possible causes such as structural failure, pilot incapacitation, or bad weather, but these were ruled out. They found the pitch trim almost fully nose-down, more than what would normally be used during landing.
While this is thought to be the cause, the AAIB said there was “insufficient evidence to confirm this”, due to extensive fire damage post-impact.
The evidence that remained also contained no identifiable defects that could have caused or contributed to the nose-dive.
Following the release of the report, North Yorkshire Police stated that their investigation is still ongoing.