Haughey Air AgustaWestland AW139 crash
An AgustaWestland AW139 similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 13 March 2014 |
| Summary | Pilot error, spatial disorientation |
| Site | Gillingham, Norfolk, United Kingdom 52°28′40″N 1°32′38″E / 52.47778°N 1.54389°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | AgustaWestland AW139 |
| Operator | Haughey Air |
| Registration | G-LBAL |
| Flight origin | Gillingham, Norfolk |
| Stopover | Coventry Airport |
| Destination | Rostrevor, County Down, United Kingdom |
| Occupants | 4 |
| Passengers | 2 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 13 March 2014, an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter of Haughey Air crashed shortly after taking off at night in fog from Gillingham, Norfolk, United Kingdom, killing all four people on board. Among the victims was Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond.
The subsequent investigation concluded that the flight crew may have been subject to somatogravic illusion due to the lack of external visual cues, inducing them to manoeuvre the aircraft into the ground instead of climbing away.