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| Date: | Tuesday 10 October 1978 |
| Time: | 18:00 |
| Type: |  Cessna 152 Aerobat |
| Owner/operator: | Toon Ghose Aviation Ltd. |
| Registration: | G-TOON |
| MSN: | 152-81989 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel just off Worthing, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA) |
| Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Written off (destroyed) 10 October 1978 when crashed into the English Channel off Worthing, West Sussex, killing both persons on board. In 'Shoreham Airport - the Story of Britain's Oldest Licensed Airfield' (T.M.A.Webb & D.L.Bird) notes:
'Captain Peter Stanton, a British Air Tours pilot, and Captain Patrick Hope of Dan Air, were killed when the Cessna 152 they had hired crashed into the sea off The Half Brick on Worthing sea front.'
The aircraft was performing stall turns while being piloted by Dan Air and British Airtours airline pilots. At the end of one manoeuvre they were unable to pull up in time and crashed into the sea. According to a newspaper report from the time they may have been under the influence of alcohol ("Daily Mirror" - Thursday 30 November 1978)
"Drinking pilots in air crash
TWO airline pilots who died when their hired light aircraft crashed into the sea had been drinking. An inquest at Worthing was told yesterday that the blood-alcohol level of both exceeded the legal limit for motorists.
The Cessna aircraft crashed attempting an acrobatic manoeuvre below 1,000 feet. The inquest was told that there was a total ban on drink before flying.
Verdicts of accidental death were returned on Peter John Stanton, 40, of Shoreham, who flew with British Airtours, and Patrick John Beresford Hope, 36, of Brighton, who flew with Dan Air."
G-TOON was a fairly new aircraft, having only been UK registered as such on 18 August 1978, just under two months before it crashed. The registration G-TOON was cancelled by the CAA on 24 October 1978 as aircraft "destroyed"
Sources:
1. Brighton Evening Argus October 11th, 1978.
2. Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 11 October 1978
3. Daily Mirror - Thursday 30 November 1978
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-TOON.pdf
5. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17545.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Oct-2009 21:02 | andrewaircraft | Added |
| 15-Jul-2015 11:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2016 13:53 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 15-Nov-2020 20:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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