Aviation News Item: 01999

6th May 2008

Source: ebanmagazine.com

Cessna has provided a team of engineers to help investigators working to establish the cause of a crash of a Citation I. Five men died on 30 March when the aircraft struck a house in Farnborough, Kent, in the U.K. The owners Ed and Pat Harman returned from holiday to find their home badly damaged.

"The company is deeply saddened by the accident and is working closely in support of the Air Accident Investigation Branch," the company said in a statement. "Until the investigators have announced their findings Cessna will not be making any further comment."

AAIB inspectors were joined by investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and representatives of Cessna and Pratt & Whitney Canada, the engine manufacturer. "This is in accordance with international convention," the AAIB said.

The Citation I, carrying two pilots and three passengers, crashed at around 2.30 p.m. on the Sunday after taking off from Biggin Hill bound for Pau in southwest France. The dead were named as 54-year-old former British Touring Car Championship driver David Leslie; former Touring Car champion and motor sport executive Richard Lloyd, 63; race analyst Christopher Allarton, 25; pilot Mike Roberts and co-pilot Michael Chapman, 57. Lloyd owned and managed the Apex Jaguar racing team, which competes in the FIA GT3 European Championship.

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