Crash of a Cessna 340A in Longleat House

On arrival at Longleat, the aircraft made a circuit of the landing area, which was a section of private road closed to the public. During this circuit, the pilot commented to his passengers that the road might be too narrow for the aircraft, which had a mainwheel track width of 3,93 meters. The road is 5,4 meters wide and, on this occasion, was bounded on both sides with wet grass. The wind was southerly and the landing direction was 155° (M). Landing Distance Available was 973 meters. On short final approach to land after a second circuit of the intended landing place, the aircraft encountered windshear at 200 feet agl, and touched down on the grass 1,6 metre to the left of the landing strip, striking the left propeller and the tail skid on the ground. The aircraft then struck a 'No Parking' sign and, 48 metres further on, as the landing gear started to sink into the soft ground, the right propeller also contacted the ground. The aircraft came to rest in another 64 metres. There was no fire, but one of the passenger seat back collapsed at some stage of the landing or the roll-out, resulting in a minor back injury to one of the passengers. He was taken to the local hospital but was released the same evening.