Training

Operator:

Registration:

N5371

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

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Schedule:

Llandwrog - Llandwrog

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Circumstances:

The crew where on a daytime navigation training flight from Llandwrog near Caernarvon, during the the return leg from Shrewsbury while in cloud, and shortly before 10:30 am, the pilot saw a sheep go by beneath him. He pulled the control yoke back in an instinctive effort to climb and successfully stalled the aircraft onto the rising ground but struck a large rock which spun the aircraft so it ended up facing downhill. Fortunately for the crew the fuselage remained intact, this was shown in a photograph published in 'Legend of Llandwrog', but the wing that hit the rock was destroyed, this is shown in 'No Landing Place' on page 41. After the crash the crew were able to transmit a wireless message to Llandwrog to report that they had crashed, using the Direction Finding equipment at the airfield the Flying Control Officer was able to estimate its position somewhere in the vicinity of Tal y Fan. However before a better fix could be made the remaining life in the aircraft's battery was exhausted, though the crew were advised to fire a red flare every half hour to aid the Mountain Rescue crew who departed base at 11:00. They drove their vehicles up the track from Rowen that runs around the southern side of Tal y Fan. However this track became narrow with overhanging trees and large boulders which caused some trouble for the team. Two flares were seen from towards Llyn Dulyn, but these had been fired by an 'Army Battle Unit' who were training in the area. They were also brought into the search and after only a short time reported sighting a crashed aircraft high up on Foel Fras. The Mountain Rescue Service then proceeded up the Dulyn valley and when they reached farm at Tan y Bwlch spotted a lift raft and the five crew with the aircraft. The crash site was reached at 15:00 and the crew were quickly evacuated from the site and were taken back to the Station Sick Quarters for medical assessment.
Crew (9th AFU):
Sgt Arthur Bickerdike, pilot,
P/O Oswald Ian Hamilton Stoeckel, navigator,
Sgt Laurence Tommie, wireless operator,
Sgt G. Martin, navigator 1.
Source:
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/wales/walesn5371.htm

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I into the Pacific Ocean

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

6869

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Patricia Bay - Patricia Bay

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The crew was completing a training sortie from Patricia Bay on behalf of the 32nd OTU. En route, the right engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft about 250 km southwest of Vancouver (48°10'00.0"N 126°09'00.0"W). All three crew members were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

Probable cause:

Engine failure.

Crash of an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford in Hawkesbury Upton: 2 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford

Operator:

Registration:

EB861

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En route, the crew encountered technical problems with the port engine and the captain attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft went out of control and crashed in Hawkesbury Upton. Both pilots were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Lewis Cordey, pilot instructor
P/O Donald MacIver, pilot.

Probable cause:

It is believed that one of the propeller blades on the left engine broke away in flight, hit the rudder and damaged the elevator controls, causing the loss of control. It is reported the port engine was found about a mile from the wreckage.

Crash of a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura I in Llandwrog: 4 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura

Operator:

Registration:

AE688

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Consolidated PBY Catalina

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Sculthorpe - Sculthorpe

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While on a night training sortie from RAF Sculthorpe, the twin engine aircraft was off course and hit the slope of a mountain near Llandwrog. All four crew members were killed.
Crew (464th Squadron):
F/Sgt J. A. Johnston, pilot,
F/Sgt E. J. E. Beaudry, navigator,
F/O L. Fullerton, wireless operator and air gunner,
F/Sgt A. S. Clegg, air gunner.

Probable cause:

The aircraft was not on the intended track at the time of the accident for unknown reason.

Crash of a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina off Bowen: 14 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

A24-24

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Bowen - Bowen

MSN:

380

YOM:

1941

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The seaplane took off from Bowen on an air to sea gunnery training exercise. At the conclusion of firing practice, the aircraft was making a run across the wave tops over a choppy sea and it is assumed that the port wing hit the water and the aircraft crashed into the sea and sank approximately 5 miles east of Bowen. Two crew members survived while 14 other occupants were killed.
Crew (20th Squadron):
F/O Peter Keene, pilot, †
F/O Stanley John Porteous, copilot, †
Sgt Robin Fowler, flight engineer,
Sgt Raymond Charles Ciglander, navigator, †
Sgt Harold Stuart William Thomas, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Leslie George Dalgleish, fitter, †
LAC Ainslie Ivor Dent, fitter, †
AC1 Cyril Leslie Edwards, armourer.
Passengers:
Sgt Lloyd George Fiske,
S/Sgt Leslie Harry Harrison,
Sgt Robert Ronald Harrison,
Pvt Douglas McLaine,
Pvt Irvine George Osborne,
Cpt Lawrence Edward Tansey,
Pvt Kenneth Reginald Walker,
Cpt Donald Charles Whitfeld.
Source: http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/

Crash of a Consolidated B-24E-10-FO Liberator near Indio: 10 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

42-7122

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Blythe – Muroc

MSN:

146

YOM:

1941

Location:

Indio

California

Country:

United States of America

Region:

North America

Crew on board:

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Circumstances:

A few minutes before 2200LT, the aircraft left Blythe Airfield and set an altitude for 15,000 feet and a heading towards Muroc for a night training bombing mission. No radio contact was made with the crew of the Liberator after take-off. At 2206LT, approximately 50 miles west of Blythe and north of Indio, the B-24 crashed and burned on a mountainside. All ten crew members were killed and the aircraft was totally destroyed.
Crew (34th BG):
2nd Lt Harold Schonberg, pilot,
2nd Lt Gene Healy, copilot,
2nd Lt Arnold Johnston, navigator,
2nd Lt Harry Louis, bombardier,
Sgt Ernest Simard, flight engineer,
Sgt Arnold Wilensky, radio operator,
Sgt Melvin Steeley, flight engineer,
Sgt Ross Hill, radio operator,
Sgt Paul Trusley, air gunner,
Sgt John Sweeney, air gunner.
Source: http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/indiob24.html

Probable cause:

Although an investigation revealed the loss of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers in flight, a lack of witnesses and no communication with the crew precluded investigators from determining the exact cause of the crash.

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I on Mt Green Gable: 2 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

DJ222

Flight Phase:

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Schedule:

Brampton - Brampton

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Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a night training flight and left the RAF Brampton in the early evening on a combined exercise with three other similar aircraft. En route, the crew encountered low visibility, marginal weather conditions and strong winds, which caused the aircraft to be off the intended course when it struck the summit of Mt Green Gable. Two crew members were killed while three others were injured.
Crew:
Sgt Waclaw Panasik, pilot, †
F/Sgt Ervin Albert Loppe, air bomber, †
F/O John Philip Sargent Calder, navigator,
P/O Charles Edward Peake, navigator,
Sgt Geoffrey Montague Chowney, wireless operator.

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I on Mt Scafell Pike: 5 killed

Date & Time:

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

DJ275

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Brampton – Douglas

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Circumstances:

The crew was engaged in a night training flight and left the RAF Brampton in the early evening on a combined exercise with three other similar aircraft. En route, the crew encountered low visibility, marginal weather conditions and strong winds, which caused the aircraft to drift off the intended course when it struck the summit of Mt Scafell Pike. The wreckage was found two days later and all five crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Stanislaw Kowalczyk, pilot,
Sgt John Taylor Chadwick, navigator,
Sgt Thomas William Pickering, bomb aimer,
Sgt Robert Stanley Deason, navigator,
Sgt Thomas Scorer Wheatley Lawson, wireless operator and air gunner.

Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I in Hesket Newmarket

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