Crash of an Avro 652 Anson at RAF Sealand

Date & Time: Feb 1, 1937
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
K6267
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a ferry flight to RAF Sealand. The airplane overshot runway and hit a fence at the end of the terrain before crashing in a muddy field. Both crew members were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.50A in Capella

Date & Time: Jul 19, 1936
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
VH-UFW
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Rockhampton – Brisbane
MSN:
2
YOM:
1928
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While cruising at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the engine failed. The pilot recovered from a spin and completed an emergency landing near Capella, Queensland. The pilot was uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Engine failure in flight.

Ground accident of a Fokker F7b/3m in Haamstede

Date & Time: Jul 15, 1936 at 1500 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PH-AEZ
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Haamstede - Rotterdam
MSN:
5122
YOM:
1929
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
As the weather conditions were deteriorating, the board of the Dutch National Company KLM decided to move the aircraft that was parked in Haamstede to a safe place in Rotterdam, and asked three technicians to do so. While taxiing, the aircraft was caught by strong winds, went out of control and came to rest upside down. All three occupants were uninjured and the aircraft named 'Zwaluw' was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Caught by strong winds while taxiing.

Crash of a Junkers W.33c near Er Roseires

Date & Time: May 3, 1936
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
Dessye
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Addis Ababa - Er Roseires
MSN:
2539
YOM:
1929
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Because of intense fighting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian government ordered the German pilot Ludwig Weber to evacuate the Junkers W.33c to a safe airport outside the country, in Sudan. On approach to Er Roseires, the engine failed due to a fuel exhaustion. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the airplane named 'Dessye' crash landed in a desert area located south of Er Roseires. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and the pilot was uninjured. The aircraft was later sold by the Royal Air Force to a local scrap dealer.
Probable cause:
Engine failure caused by a fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Lockheed Vega 5C in Fort Worth: 1 killed

Date & Time: Nov 9, 1935 at 0445 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC980Y
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dallas – Waco
MSN:
191
YOM:
1932
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
On November 9, 1935, at approximately 0445LT within the city limits of East Fort Worth, Texas, a commercially owned airplane, while being flown without passengers, crashed with resultant death of the pilot and the complete destruction of the aircraft. The airplane, a Lockheed Vega, model 5C, was owned and operated by Braniff Airway Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and bore Department of Commerce licence n° NC980Y. At the time of the accident it was being ferried from Dallas to Waco, Texas, via Fort Worth, and no passengers were permitted to be carried. The pilot, William C. Maus of Waco, Texas, held a Department of Commerce transport pilot's licence and a scheduled air transport rating. The take-off was accomplished at 0410LT, the airplane carrying a 5-hour gasoline supply. The ceiling at Dallas was 1,000 feet with 8 miles visibility. Fort Worth at the time had a ceiling of 500 feet with 7 miles visibility. It had not been the intention of the pilot to land at Fort Worth but to fly beyond it to a lighted airway leading into Waco, Texas, his destination. By the time Fort Worth was reached the ceiling had dropped to about 75 feet and the visibility was zero. This change in weather was broadcast to the pilot from Fort Worth with instructions that he return to Dallas. Whether or not the pilot received this broadcast is not known inasmuch as his airplane was not equipped with two-way radio. However, he had plenty of fuel and could have easily returned to Dallas, where the weather had remained constant, or have flown on to Houston, where the ceiling was practically unlimited. Reports from various people who heard the airplane overhead and saw the accident indicate that the pilot was attempting to get under the 75-foot ceiling, presumably to locate the airport. He was heard flying around for some time and made two complete circles at a low altitude in the immediate vicinity of the accident. Immediately preceding the crash the airplane appeared diving out of the mist. The engine was heard to accelerate as through the pilot had just caught sight of the ground and was making an effort to pull the airplane out of the dive before striking. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the pilot was killed.
Probable cause:
It is the opinion of the Accident Board that the probable cause of this accident was poor judgment on the part of the pilote for attempting to land at Fort Worth under existing weather conditions.

Crash of a Spartan Cruiser in Fort Monckton

Date & Time: Oct 9, 1935
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
G-ACDX
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Heston – Somerton
MSN:
04
YOM:
1933
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
En route from Heston to Somerton, Isle of Wight, one of the engine failed. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed on a sport field located in Fort Monckton, south of Gosport. The pilot was uninjured while the three engine aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Engine failure in flight.

Crash of a Douglas DC-2A-127 off Salt Lake City: 3 killed

Date & Time: Oct 6, 1935
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC14285
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
MSN:
1328
YOM:
1934
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The crew was flying back to his base in California. Shortly after takeoff from Salt Lake City Airport, while climbing, the aircraft went out of control and plunged into the Great Salt Lake. The aircraft sank quickly but all three occupants were able to evacuate the cabin. Unfortunately, they drowned while trying to reach the shore. The aircraft was owned by the Standard Oil of California, not the Standard Oil Company, defunct in 1914.

Crash of a Kalinin K-5 near Dnipropetrovsk: 1 killed

Date & Time: Feb 25, 1935 at 1213 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L619
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Kryvyi Rih – Dnipropetrovsk
MSN:
116
YOM:
1931
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Aircraft flight hours:
447
Circumstances:
The crew completed a mail/cargo flight from Dnipropetrovsk to Kryvyi Rih in the morning. At 1035LT, the crew departed Kryvyi Rih on the return empty leg to Dnipropetrovsk. While approaching the destination, the crew encountered thick fog with very limited visibility. The pilot reduced his altitude, probably to maintain a visual contact with the ground, when the airplane impacted with its right wing the metallic pylon of a high tension line (160,000 volts). The airplane lost height and crashed. The mechanic was injured and the pilot was killed.
Probable cause:
The accident was the consequence of a collision with a metallic pylon while the pilot was flying at an unsafe altitude in bad visibility. It was determined that the crew departed both Dnipropetrovsk and Kryvyi Rih Airport without any weather bulletin. Also, they were cleared for takeoff without such information. The people in charge to transmit weather bulletin prior to departure failed to do so.

Crash of an Airspeed AS.5 Courier in Grenoble

Date & Time: Oct 17, 1934
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
G-ACLS
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Brindisi – Croydon
MSN:
13
YOM:
1934
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances near Grenoble. The pilot Mr. Crundall was uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Kalinin K-4 in Novopavlovsk: 2 killed

Date & Time: Mar 7, 1932 at 1235 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L228
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Kharkiv – Mineralnye Vody – Tbilisi
MSN:
116
YOM:
1929
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Aircraft flight hours:
539
Circumstances:
The crew departed Kharkiv to ferry the airplane to its base in Tiflis with an intermediate stop in Mineralnye Vody. After takeoff from Mineralnye Vody Airport, the crew climbed to an altitude of 300-350 metres then continued to the southeast, following the railway track. About 20 minutes into the flight, weather conditions worsened and the visibility was poor due to fog. Rather than returning to Mineralnye Vody, the captain decided to continue and reduced his altitude. He continued vertical to the railway line, sometimes to its left sometimes to its right. Too low, the airplane struck the ground and crashed near the Apollonskaya Station in Novopavlovsk. One mechanic was seriously injured while both other occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The accident was the consequence of the decision of the captain to continue the flight at low altitude in poor visibility due to fog rather than returning to Mineralnye Vody for a safe landing. It was determined that the information transmitted to the crew regarding the weather forecast were not relevant and were thus considered as a contributing factor.