Westland-Bell Soloy 47G-3B-1 G-BHKD near Ledston.
In the morning of 30th July 1983 this helicopter due to be used to spray crops by AIS (Yorkshire) Ltd. The pilot's day started early at the AIS base at Hemingbrough. At 04.00hrs he started this helicopter's engine but found the transmission oil pressure was registering as low. After a telephone call with his organisation's maintenance company's general manager it was suggested there could be a blockage in a valve connected with the transmission oil system. The pilot and the road-based tanker driver the company was using removed the valve and found it was contaminated with small pieces of plastic. This was cleaned, refitted and then the helicopter tested on the ground. With this being found satisfactory the pilot contacted the maintenance company again to inform them they had rectified this issue but that two other faults on the helicopter would need to be looked at when it was due for a rountine maintenance inspection in a few days time. The pilot and the road-based tanker then both made their ways to a field site at Newfield Farm, between Ledston and Ledsham, just north of Castleford, where the helicopter was due to spray a potato crop with fungicide. At around 09.00hrs the helicopter landed at the farm site where the tanker filled the spray tanks. At 09.15hrs it took off and began to spray the field. Having made one pass of the field it began a return pass but only completed half this before it made a sharp banked climbing turn to the right but then lost height. It then flew into the roofs of two barns at Newfield Farm and crashed.
The pilot was transported to hospital at Pontefract but was found dead on arrival. He was found to be wearing only light clothing and no crash helmet, thought probable owing to the heat generated in Summer inside the glazed bubble cockpit. The head injuries he sustained killed him but it was thought that had he been wearing a helmet he may have survived. How the helicopter was maintained was thought responsible for this accident occuring with both the CAA issuing an emergency airworthiness directive and the manufacturer issuing a service bulletin. The helicopter was registered to Heliwork Finance Ltd, of Thruxton airfield, Hampshire, but must have been leased to AIS (Yorkshire) Ltd.
Pilot - Mr Kevin Douglas Graham. Aged 31. Burial location unknown.
Kevin Douglas Graham was born 21st February 1952 in New Zealand.
This aircraft was built in 1968 and was initially an Army Air Corps helicopter, registered as XT848. It was later sold to the civilian market and registered as G-BHKD on 17th January 1980 to Heliwork Ltd. of Thruxton. On 23rd April 1981 the registration changed to Heliwork Finance Ltd. also of Thruxton, but it must have been leased to A.I.S. (Yorkshire) Ltd. On 5th December 1983 the registration cancelled as "destroyed" but the wreckage was sold to a German owner where it was rebuilt and registered D-HABY.