Nicholas Denison-Pender, 50, from Perthshire, died when his light aircraft crashed soon after take-off near Kinglassie, Fife, two days before Christmas.
The UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has published a prelim-inary report saying the plane’s engine suffered power loss due to ‘significant water contamination of the aircraft's fuel system’.
Updated guidance on identifying the problem will be issued to pilots while the investigation continues.
The AAIB bulletin said: “Investiga-tion of the aircraft's fuel system revealed significant water contamina-tion that had not been removed during the pre-flight inspection.
“This Special Bulletin contains preliminary information on the accident and highlights that it is possible that an entire fuel sample tube of water, drained from the fuel system, can still produce an odour of (aircraft fuel) when smelled.”
Emergency services were sent to the crash site on December 23 but Nicholas was pronounced dead at the scene in his Rockwell Commander 112 TCA, which had been based at Fife airport.
The report said a witness at the airpo...
The UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has published a prelim-inary report saying the plane’s engine suffered power loss due to ‘significant water contamination of the aircraft's fuel system’.
Updated guidance on identifying the problem will be issued to pilots while the investigation continues.
The AAIB bulletin said: “Investiga-tion of the aircraft's fuel system revealed significant water contamina-tion that had not been removed during the pre-flight inspection.
“This Special Bulletin contains preliminary information on the accident and highlights that it is possible that an entire fuel sample tube of water, drained from the fuel system, can still produce an odour of (aircraft fuel) when smelled.”
Emergency services were sent to the crash site on December 23 but Nicholas was pronounced dead at the scene in his Rockwell Commander 112 TCA, which had been based at Fife airport.
The report said a witness at the airpo...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 11, 2025