Lessons Learned: Taylor Monoplane, Landing Inversion, Fatality

A Taylor Monoplane (G-AYSH) experienced a landing inversion at Nayland Airfield, Suffolk, June 17, 2025; pilot discovered deceased.

G-AYSH, a Taylor Monoplane, took off from Retreat Farm, Essex, with the intention of landing at Nayland Airfield in Suffolk. After landing, the aircraft departed from the mown landing surface into long grass and came to rest inverted. The right main landing gear shock absorber was found to have seized. A post-mortem examination indicated that the pilot sustained a fatal heart attack, which the investigation concluded is likely to have occurred after landing.

History of the flight

G-AYSH was owned by the pilot and based at Retreat Farm, also known as Little Baddow Airstrip, Essex. The pilot departed at 0922 hrs with the intention of landing at Nayland Airfield, a site he visited regularly and where he had been expected to arrive at approximately 1100 hrs. After taking off from Runway 28, the aircraft climbed on a northeasterly track. After approximately 5 nm from departure, it descended to about 200 ft agl before climbing again to 1,450 ft amsl near Colchester, where it turned north toward Nayland. The aircraft subsequently established on a straight-in approach to Runway 32. It touched down just before the runway midpoint, veered to the left, departed the mown landing surface into long grass, and came to rest inverted at approximately 0936 hrs. The unresponsive pilot was discovered at about 1015 hrs by a club pilot arriving at the airfield, who then raised the alarm.

Accident site

The aircraft had traveled approximately 30 m through long grass to the left of the runway before nosing over. The aircraft’s main landing gear left tracks in the long grass where it departed the runway, starting at approximately 250 m from Runway 32’s southern end. The canopy had broken, with all pieces of transparency found next to the aircraft. There had been a fuel leak but no fire. The aircraft was righted by first responders.

Recorded information

The flight from Retreat Farm to Nayland was recorded by primary1 radar sites at Stansted Airport, and RAF Wattisham, which were 23 nm to the east of Nayland and 10 nm to the north-northeast respectively. Both radars detected the aircraft shortly after it had taken off, and the aircraft subsequently descended below radar coverage when it was about 1 nm south of Nayland.

An Airbox Aware GPS unit was also recovered from the cockpit of the aircraft. The device was developed as part of a joint initiative with NATS2 in 2009 and provided a moving map display. It also included a recording function which logged GPS-derived position, altitude, and groundspeed of the aircraft once every 10 seconds. The GPS data log was recovered from the unit and decoded with the assistance of its manufacturer. The recording included the accident flight and other flights dating back to July 2020. Of these, 24 were to Nayland.

The aircraft’s GPS and radar tracks predominantly correlated with each other, although it was noted that there was some variation at times. This is most likely due to a number of factors, including the relative accuracy of primary radar, the aircraft’s distance from the radar head and its radar signature. GPS devices determine their position by measuring the distance to multiple satellites, with a minimum of four satellite signals required for a GPS receiver to determine its 3D position (latitude, longitude, and altitude). GPS-derived altitude is generally less accurate than barometric altitude as its accuracy can be affected by signal obstructions and atmospheric conditions. The barometric altitude of the aircraft was not recorded, either by the GPS unit or by radar as the aircraft was not equipped with a transponder. A review of the GPS data showed variance in the recorded altitude when the aircraft was on the ground at the same location but on different dates. The deviation in the data was also not constant (linear), such that the aircraft’s altitude on the ground at the departure airfield could underread the actual terrain elevation, but when on the ground at the destination airfield it would overread, and vice versa.

Read the complete AAIB (Air Accidents Investigation Branch) report, “AAIB investigation to Taylor Monoplane, G-AYSH,” published April 2, 2026.

Content/image source/credit, AAIB, “AAIB investigation to Taylor Monoplane, G-AYSH,” published April 2, 2026.