Date:	Tuesday 13 November 1984
Time:	18:41 UTC
Type:	Rockwell Aero Commander 690B
Owner/operator:	Flight Line
Registration:	EI-BGL
MSN:	11507
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Jevington, Eastbourne, Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Dublin Airport (DUB/EIDW)
Destination airport:	Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG/LFPB)
Investigating agency:	AIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
In the late afternoon of 13 November 1984 Rockwell Turbo Commander 690 EI-BGL was en-route from Dublin to Paris with a pilot and eight passengers on board. At about 25,000 feet over the south of England, it turned to port and was cleared to fly south-east toward Dieppe. However a few minutes later ATC noted it was headed north-west and when it raised this with the pilot, he apologised, said that the autopilot had 'dropped out' and turned to starboard to take the aeroplane back on a path toward Dieppe. What he did not know was that, in all probability, the reason for the autopilot disengaging was the failure of the aeroplane's AC electrical supply, which also deprived the pilot of many of his flight indicators. The consequence was that, again, the aeroplane started to turn to port. It continued to turn to port and to descend - and presumably the pilot was unaware of this - until it was heading north. Its rate of descent continued to increase. ATC tried to warn the pilot of this but there was no response. This may have been because the pilot realised that the aeroplane was in a steep spiral dive and he was fighting to recover from this. However the stresses placed on the airframe, by the pilot trying to pull out of the dive, were such that the aircraft broke up at about 20,000 feet, suffered a secondary disintegration between that height and 16,000 feet and the elements of the aeroplane then plunged to the ground.

As an indication of the forces to which the aeroplane was subjected by this manoeuvre, the starboard wing (the Commander 690 is a twin engine, high wing, pressurised monoplane) was forced down to an extent such that the propeller of the starboard engine came into contact with and cut some 27 inches into the fuselage. The starboard wing then broke away from the fuselage, falling back onto the rear fuselage and destroying the vertical and horizontal flying surfaces of tail plane of the aeroplane (effectively the whole of the rear fuselage). At some point the port wing also detached from the fuselage.

When they reached the ground, the elements of the aeroplane were spread over a wide area of the Sussex countryside. There was a great distance between them, starting over ten miles north of Jevington and continuing south in a line to the village. The aeroplane's batteries were found 4,000 feet north-east of East Dean. Its fuselage was 2,000 feet to the north-west of them. The starboard wing was 1,000 feet north of the fuselage. The port wing 2,400 feet north of the fuselage. The rear fuselage was found between the wings and the village of Jevington. The passengers' luggage was found in a small field next to Jevington Church. The parts of the vertical and horizontal flying surfaces of the tailplane were found over an area between 1.75 and 3 miles from the fuselage. Smaller elements of the areoplane were found over a path between 3 and 10 miles north of the fuselage.

The principal crash location was identified because the emergency services saw fire on a ridge near Jevington. There the main part of the fuselage was found, with eight of the nine seats within it. The ninth was some 1500 feet away. Poor light and poor weather made the search for bodies difficult. Two bodies initially were found in the fuselage. But another six people had been thrown out of the aeroplane when it broke up in the air. Those bodies were not found until first light the following morning. The ninth body subsequently was found in the fuselage by the light of the following day. Unsurprisingly, all aboard died. The accident was not survivable. What remained of the aeroplane, after it had fallen to earth in parts, was further damaged by fire caused on impact.

The AAIB investigated the crash and produced a long and detailed report. Whilst it was unable to reach a definitive conclusion as to the cause of the accident, the finger was pointed at the failure of the aeroplane's AC electrical supply; and the pilot's failure timeously to tackle the consequences of that vis à vis how it then flew before it entered the steep dive; and his subsequent attempts to pull the aeroplane out of the dive, thereby overstressing the airframe which, in turn, led to it breaking up in the air. All in all, a sad chain of events.

A contemporary local newspaper report adds further details and names the fatalities ("Aberdeen Press and Journal" - Wednesday 14 November 1984):

"Nine die as plane crashes

NINE people on a wine trip to France were killed last night when their light aircraft crashed into a hill on the Sussex Downs and burst into flames.

Four of Ireland's top journalists were feared to be among the dead after the Rockwell Aero Commander, flying from Dublin to Paris to collect the first bottles of this year’s Beaujolals Nouveau, came down near Eastbourne in poor Visibility and heavy rain.

A pilot and eight passengers were on board when the plane plunged into a field shortly before, 7 p.m., near the village of Jevlngton. Eyewitnesses spoke of seeing the plane fying low over Eastbourne’s seafront, apparently in difficulties. A farmhand saw it circling over the village of East Dean—then it disappeared in ball of flame.

Police, firemen and farmworkers tramped through thick mud in search of survivors. The aircraft was owned by Dublin-based Flight Line Executive Air Charter.

A spokesman said the following were on the flight list and believed to be on board: Mr Niall Hanley, editor of the "Evening Herald"; Mr John Feeney, diary writer the paper; Mr Kevin Marron, former editor of Dublin's "Sunday World", now a columnist on that paper and the "Evening Herald"; Mr Tony Hennlgan, diary editor for the "Irish Independent"; Mr Pat Gibbons, owner of Dublin's Jule's Nightclub and Sands Hotel; Francois Schelbaum, manager of the Sands Hotel; Mr Cormack Cassidy, a Dublin wine merchant; Arrlgo Kiki, the Italian proprietor of a Dublin restaurant, and Mr Jack Walsh, the pilot.

The party had intended to spend today visiting a vineyard near Paris before flying home. They were to open the bottles in Gibbons's nightclub at a special party".

1. Aberdeen Press and Journal - Wednesday 14 November 1984
2. Irish Independent - Thursday 30 July 1987
3. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542302ba40f0b61346000c35/3-1987_EI-BGL.pdf
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-rockwell-grand-commander-690b-eastbourne-9-killed
5. EI-BGL at Cranfield (EGTC) 5 September 1981: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1027828/
6. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17571.0
7. EI-BGL at Fairyhouse, Eire 22-8-1982: https://www.airliners.net/photo/Flight-Line/Rockwell-690B-Turbo-Commander/515068/L
8. https://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/75961-in-memoriam/?do=findComment&comment=1612376
9. EI-BGL at Fairyhouse, Eire August 1980: http://www.irishairpics.com/photo/1008749/M/Rockwell-690B-Turbo-Commander/EI-BGL/Flightline-Ltd/?&sid=6365584782&sp=8

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
17-Sep-2009 09:41	harro	Updated
11-Feb-2012 11:44	Gwydd	Updated [Aircraft type]
30-May-2013 22:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
28-Oct-2014 21:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code]
15-Nov-2020 18:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report]
15-Nov-2020 18:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]