Air Accidents Investigation Branch
The pilot intended to fly to another airfield 37 nm south of Otherton Airfield where the aircraft was based. The aircraft was climbing into the overhead while flying along the downwind leg. When at a height of about 740 ft agl, it started to descend and appeared to be returning to land. The base leg was flown relatively close to the airfield and during the turn onto the final approach the aircraft entered a spin from which it did not recover before striking the ground. The investigation was unable to establish why the aircraft descended and appeared to return to the airfield. However, the relatively high bank angle, decaying speed and retracted flaps would have provided the conditions for an entry to the spin. Guidance for pilots on stall and spin awareness can be found in CAA Safety Sense Leaflet 30.