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Plane crashed after hitting power line in Hertfordshire

Supplied G-AJVE plane lying upside down in a fieldSupplied
The plane was pictured upside down in a field last year

A plane that came to a stop upside down in a field hit a power line as it was preparing to land, accident investigators have said.

The DH-82 Tiger Moth crashed at Wigginton near Tring, Hertfordshire on 15 September.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the aircraft had descended too low on approach.

Investigators said both people on board the two-seater biplane escaped uninjured.

Supplied The G-AJVE plane in the air moments before a crashSupplied
Air investigators said the Tiger Moth plane struck power cables before suffering a hard landing

The pilot told the AAIB the aircraft struck low tension power cables, causing it to suffer a hard landing, which damaged its landing gear and caused the aircraft to bounce.

On the second touchdown, the damaged landing gear dug into the grass, causing the aircraft to yaw sideways and then flip upside down.

The Tiger Moth was built by the Hatfield-based de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1931 and 1944, and remained in service as a training aircraft until it was superseded by the Chipmunk in the 1950s.

G-AJVE was first registered as a civil aircraft in May 1947. 

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