Bembridge Airport

Bembridge Airport (IATA: BBP, ICAO: EGHJ) is an unlicensed aerodrome located about a mile south-west of the village of Bembridge, Isle of Wight, England. It is one of four airstrips on the Isle of Wight, and one of two large airfields, the other major one being Isle of Wight/Sandown Airport about four miles to the south-west.

Bembridge Airport
IATA: BBP ICAO: EGHJ
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Vectis Gliding Club Ltd
Location	Bembridge
Elevation AMSL	53 ft / 16 m
Coordinates	50°40′41″N 001°06′34″W / 50.67806°N 1.10944°W / 50.67806; -1.10944
Website	http://www.eghj.co.uk
Map
EGHJ Location on the Isle of Wight
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12/30 827 2,713 Concrete
Statistics (2007)
Movements 13,354
Sources: Aerodrome information from Bembridge Airport^[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority^[2]^[3]

Bembridge Airport is open to non-residents PPR (prior permission required).^[4]

Gliding no longer takes place from Bembridge.^[5]

History

Bembridge opened in 1920 with commercial airline service starting in 1934.^[6] In 1965, Britten-Norman began production, adjacent to the airport, with their prototype Islander aircraft.^[7][8][9]

Accidents and incidents

2000

7 October

A Piper Cub towplane and a glider collided over the airfield. The Piper Cub had released a different glider and was returning to the airfield. Both pilots survived the collision.^[10]

2010

4 September

A Mooney M20J, and a Vans RV-4, "participating in the Merlin Trophy Air Race, which started and finished at Bembridge Airport", collided 3.7 nm from the airport. The Mooney broke up and crashed killing both occupants. The Vans was able to land at Bembridge, with both occupants receiving minor injuries.^[11]

2016

16 February

A Cessna R172M Skyhawk inverted following a nose-over with minor injuries to three occupants.^[12][13][14]

2018

12 July

A Beagle B121 Pup experienced loss of power after takeoff and made a forced landing outside the airfield. Both occupants survived with injuries.^[15][16][17]

References

1. "Bembridge Airport". eghj.extremelynice.net. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
2. . Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
3. "Airport data 1990 onwards | UK Civil Aviation Authority". caa.co.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
4. "UK Airfields – General Aviation Awareness Council". General Aviation Safety Council. 24 March 2020. from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020. Bembridge – Airfield re-opened to visiting aircraft on 23rd May 2020. The website home page now has full details and instructions. PPR mandatory via online form.
5. . Vectis Gliding Club, Ltd. 1 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. We no longer offer trial lessons or training flights.
6. "Historic Environment Action Plan Brading Haven and Bembridge Isle" (PDF). Isle of Wight County Archaeology and Historic Environment Service. October 2008. pp. 2, 5, 8, 11. (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020. Bembridge Airport was opened in 1920 on land owned by Bembridge Farm. In 1934 airline services commenced and terminal facilities were built but in WW2 Bembridge Airport closed.
7. Fortier, Rénald (28 May 2018). "There is more to life than airplanes, Part 4 | The Channel". Ingenium. Retrieved 18 November 2020. The prototype of the Britten-Norman Islander at the 26e Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, Le Bourget, Paris, June 1965.
8. Sherwood, Bob (10 October 2006). "Britten-Norman gets second wind". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 November 2020. Times have changed radically in the aerospace industry since June 13 1965, when John Britten and Desmond Norman, two former De Havilland trainees, watched a high-wing, twin-engine 10-seat monoplane take its first flight over Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. [...] Britten-Norman's Bembridge airport base, with its concrete airstrip and two large hangars, one of which houses the company's suite of offices
9. "Obituary: Dr William Gordon Watson, Director of BAA's Scottish Airports, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society". The Scotsman. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2020. [...] inviting [Watson] to take on the role of managing director of the subsidiary Britten-Norman (Bembridge) Isle of Wight. Compete aircraft – unfurnished, unpainted and without customer options – were built at Avions Fairey in Belgium and Romania and delivered to Bembridge for storage until customised and delivered.
10. Perry, Keith (9 October 2000). "Pilots escape death in air collision between plane and glider". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
11. "AAIB Bulletin: 6/2011 G-JAST and G-MARX" (PDF). Government Digital Service. 1 September 2010. (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
12. Ranter, Harro. "Runway excursion Accident Cessna R172M Skyhawk (Reims) G-BEZR, 16 Feb 2016". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 18 November 2020. [A]ircraft experienced a runway excursion and subsequent nose-over upon landing at Bembridge Airport (BBP/EGHJ), Bembridge, Isle of Wight. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the three occupants received minor injuries.
13. "Light aircraft crashes at Bembridge Airport". BBC News. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
14. "Cessna R172M Skyhawk, G-BEZR: Incident occurred February 16, 2016 at Bembridge Airport (EGHJ), Isle of Wight". Retrieved 18 November 2020. Described by Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue as 'walking wounded', the three occupants suffered small abrasions and are being treated for shock according to a Fire and Rescue spokesperson. It's after an aircraft ended up on its roof at Bembridge Airport.
15. Ranter, Harro. "Accident Beagle B121 Pup Series 2 G-TSKY, 12 Jul 2018". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
16. "Two injured in Isle of Wight light aircraft crash". BBC News. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
17. Hughes, Janet (28 June 2019). "Why two people were seriously injured in this plane crash". GloucestershireLive. Retrieved 18 November 2020. The plane, a 1968 Beagle B121 Series 2 Pup, G-TSKY, was around half a mile from Bembridge Airfield on the Isle of Wight on a return flight to Kemble in the Cotswolds when it hit trouble at around 2.30pm on July 12, 2018. [...] An official report by the Air Accident Investigations Branch has revealed that it was more than an hour before emergency services could reach the seriously injured pair after the plane came down on difficult-to-reach marshlands.

External links

• Bembridge Airport