Train hits power line brought down by light aircraft at Abergavenny

[STANDISH]

Plane crashed on to A40. No problems for train or passengers, looks like buses will have to be used This was the 0930 from Manchester.

A40 blocked.

Pictures and full details on BBC News site

No trains moving until at least 19:00

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48243610

A light aircraft has crashed on to a main road but managed to avoid hitting any cars.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the three people on board survived the incident on the A40 near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

It said they were treated at the scene for minor injuries and taken to hospital as a precaution.

BBC reporter Rhodri Tomos, who was on the train said: "The guard said that a light aircraft has crashed into some power cables and the cables have hit the train.

Transport for Wales said services between Hereford and Cardiff have now restarted, but delays are expected until 19:00 BST....

 

[Dren Ahmeti]

Lines will re-open at approximately 14:30-14:45, as Western Power are on site, clearing the cables off the track.

1W07 was the service that placed a GSMR REC call after running over the steel cables.

 

[STANDISH]

That's good news .
Also good news all three people pulled out alive of the plane, which hit the A40.

 

[PHILIPE]

In case people are wondering about the location especially as the A40 is a very long road running from London to Fishguard, the incident occurred just to the south of Abergavenny where the Marches route runs along side the road for a short distance.

 

[2HAP]

Aircraft was a Cirrus SR22T-GWT, registration 2-RORO, which is a Guernsey registration.

(edited to remove link included by accident)

 

[Adlington]

According to a guard quoted on the BBC news site the cables have hit the train. This may or may not be true, anyway as the OP pointed out nobody on the train was hurt.

 

[PHILIPE]

According to a guard quoted on the BBC news site the cables have hit the train. This may or may not be true, anyway as the OP pointed out nobody on the train was hurt.

The train continued on it's way albeit 15 minutes late at Abergavenny.

 

[Tom Quinne]

According to a guard quoted on the BBC news site the cables have hit the train. This may or may not be true, anyway as the OP pointed out nobody on the train was hurt.

Train ran over the cables, once they’d fallen across the track - very lucky the plane didn’t strike road vehicles or the train.

 

[Ploughman]

Was the plane heading for the private strip alongside the A40 on the opposite side to the railway?
According to BBC news page this is the 2nd time this has happened.

 

[PeterC]

Luckily that section of dual carriageway is usually very quiet.

I did wonder if the pilot was trying to use the straight section for an emergency landing but from the photos it seems to have crashed just to the south east where the road and railway are curving together. I wasn't aware of the private strip as the bushes on that side of the road mask the view.

 

[6Gman]

It's always struck me that airstrips next to railways aren't entirely a good idea.

 

[TheEdge]

It's always struck me that airstrips next to railways aren't entirely a good idea.

Aircraft crashes are so rare its a negligible risk regardless of what they are next to. Aircraft into Heathrow fly low over the M25, Stansted right over the M11 and Birmingham is right next to the WCML, none are particularly a threat to their neighbours.

 

[6Gman]

Aircraft crashes are so rare its a negligible risk regardless of what they are next to. Aircraft into Heathrow fly low over the M25, Stansted right over the M11 and Birmingham is right next to the WCML, none are particularly a threat to their neighbours.

I was thinking of airstrips rather than the major airports.

It was only a few years ago that a light aircraft crashed within yards of the Crewe-Chester line trying to land at a grass airstrip in a field immediately adjoining the line.

 

[Bromley boy]

I was thinking of airstrips rather than the major airports.

It was only a few years ago that a light aircraft crashed within yards of the Crewe-Chester line trying to land at a grass airstrip in a field immediately adjoining the line.

Has anyone on a train ever been injured or killed by an aeroplane landing at an airstrip close to the line? Nope.

A negligible risk, as a previous poster has commented.

 

[Ploughman]

Luckily that section of dual carriageway is usually very quiet.

I did wonder if the pilot was trying to use the straight section for an emergency landing but from the photos it seems to have crashed just to the south east where the road and railway are curving together. I wasn't aware of the private strip as the bushes on that side of the road mask the view.

See Google maps
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...69154df748!8m2!3d51.7647959!4d-2.852011?hl=en

Grass strip with markings visible on he North side of the A40

 

[Greg Read]

Train ran over the cables, once they’d fallen across the track - very lucky the plane didn’t strike road vehicles or the train.

Non track circuit area, or axle counters, ? had there been 'real' track circuits in the location, then the signalman would have had a few go 'pop' on his panel and may have been able to warn the Driver (if far enough away !)

 

[6Gman]

Has anyone on a train ever been injured or killed by an aeroplane landing at an airstrip close to the line? Nope.

A negligible risk, as a previous poster has commented.

Er, I think you're missing the point of risk management.

Nobody had ever died on a ferry with its bow doors open. Until it happened.

Ditto Bradford football stadium fire, Piper Alpha, etc etc

 

[Bromley boy]

Er, I think you're missing the point of risk management.

Nobody had ever died on a ferry with its bow doors open. Until it happened.

Ditto Bradford football stadium fire, Piper Alpha, etc etc

Many people have died in shipwrecks, fires etc. Oil rigs are dangerous working environments which have claimed many lives over the years.

*Nobody* travelling on a train has ever been killed by a crashing aircraft. You’re therefore mitigating against a risk which is negligible.

Maybe we should ban aeroplanes, or simply close down the railway, in the interests of risk management?

A sense of perspective is necessary.

 

[markindurham]

Er, I think you're missing the point of risk management.

Nobody had ever died on a ferry with its bow doors open. Until it happened.

Ditto Bradford football stadium fire, Piper Alpha, etc etc

Well yes - but as any pilot will tell you - and studies bear this out - the most hazardous part of any flight, even in light aircraft, is the drive to and from the airfield.

Risk management? Already there

 

[Highlandspring]

had there been 'real' track circuits in the location, then the signalman would have had a few go 'pop' on his panel

That’s far from certain.

 

[edwin_m]

Well yes - but as any pilot will tell you - and studies bear this out - the most hazardous part of any flight, even in light aircraft, is the drive to and from the airfield.

Risk management? Already there

As well as the one mentioned above, there was a light aircraft that came down on the tracks at Colwich.

While commercial flight in the UK has an excellent safety record with no fatalities for over a quarter of a century, I'm not sure that can be said for light aircraft. In 2018 there were 9 fatal air accidents in the UK resulting in 16 deaths, which must thereore all relate to light aircraft or helicopters (source: https://assets.publishing.service.g...49f72260/AAIB_Annual_Safety_Review_Lo_Res.pdf - note easily quoteable). Unfortunately the source doesn't break these down by aviation type or accident type, and a quick search doesn't find any useage statistics for light aircraft. Depending which groups you include the comparable rail figure would be between zero and a handful, for a mode that I'm sure is responsible for far more passenger-km.

The AAIB website also includes a much larger number of non-fatal accidents involving light aircraft and helicopters, many of which involve more or less uncontrolled landings outside an airfield. Similar events could happen (and in the past have happened) on railways. In mitigation a light aircraft is much less solid than a road vehicle, so if a train hit one it would be unlikely to cause a derailment or serious casualties on the train.

 

[Bevan Price]

As well as the one mentioned above, there was a light aircraft that came down on the tracks at Colwich.

While commercial flight in the UK has an excellent safety record with no fatalities for over a quarter of a century, I'm not sure that can be said for light aircraft. In 2018 there were 9 fatal air accidents in the UK resulting in 16 deaths, which must thereore all relate to light aircraft or helicopters (source: https://assets.publishing.service.g...49f72260/AAIB_Annual_Safety_Review_Lo_Res.pdf - note easily quoteable). Unfortunately the source doesn't break these down by aviation type or accident type, and a quick search doesn't find any useage statistics for light aircraft. Depending which groups you include the comparable rail figure would be between zero and a handful, for a mode that I'm sure is responsible for far more passenger-km.

The AAIB website also includes a much larger number of non-fatal accidents involving light aircraft and helicopters, many of which involve more or less uncontrolled landings outside an airfield. Similar events could happen (and in the past have happened) on railways. In mitigation a light aircraft is much less solid than a road vehicle, so if a train hit one it would be unlikely to cause a derailment or serious casualties on the train.

I think the major hazard of a light aircraft hitting a train might be fire, a sad consequence of many aircraft crashes if the fuel tanks are breached. So, whilst air crashes are fortunately very rare, the effect of even a light aircraft hitting a train could be very serious.

 

[Trailfinder]

When I was learning to fly at White Waltham (Maidenhead), you approached one of the runways over the railway; of course you now have the OHLE to worry about.

 

[Deepgreen]

Aircraft was a Cirrus SR22T-GWT, registration 2-RORO, which is a Guernsey registration.

(edited to remove link included by accident)

Ironically, owned by 'Transport Safety Resolutions Limited'!

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

It's always struck me that airstrips next to railways aren't entirely a good idea.

The airport that seems the most perilously close to a railway that I'm aware of is Edinburgh Airport. Eeek... the railway passes directly between the approach landing lights. Somehow I suspect this will be a greater than normal obstacle to any proposed electrification of the line!

 

[alistairlees]

The airport that seems the most perilously close to a railway that I'm aware of is Edinburgh Airport. Eeek... the railway passes directly between the approach landing lights. Somehow I suspect this will be a greater than normal obstacle to any proposed electrification of the line!

The end of Southend Airport runway is much closer to the railway - just over 50m. Edinburgh and Gatwick are both very similar at around 340m (to the edge of the blastpad, not the landing threshold). Even measuring to the landing threshold at Southend, that's just 200m from the railway line.

 

[Deepgreen]

The airport that seems the most perilously close to a railway that I'm aware of is Edinburgh Airport. Eeek... the railway passes directly between the approach landing lights. Somehow I suspect this will be a greater than normal obstacle to any proposed electrification of the line!

Gatwick is close too, not surprisingly! Are we really now proposing separating rail and air to the extent that the already tiny risk is reduced very significantly further?! It is a practical impossibility under any feasible form of risk assessment. The incidence of road vehicles crashing onto/into trains has been significant - are we saying we should separate road and rail such that the twain can never meet? All this from a small plane not crashing onto a railway! A slow news day, perhaps.

 

[PeterC]

See Google maps
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...69154df748!8m2!3d51.7647959!4d-2.852011?hl=en

Grass strip with markings visible on he North side of the A40

Comparing that with the position of the crash, which is easy to determine from the photos, he was on a direct approach which crosses the railway and road just as they start to turn parallel to the strip.

 

[Elecman]

And Manchester where one of the mitigation’s is the trip wire system to automatically cut the OLE off and return all signals to Red, not sure if it has been linked into the GSMR system to send an emergency all stop broadcast though

 

[Elecman]

Also there was the crash in the early 70s where a private jet crashed onto the Blackpool South Line at Squires Gate before somersaulting into the Pontins holiday camp and exploding