Crash of a De Havilland DH.16 in Swanley Junction
Date & Time:
Jun 10, 1920 at 2230 LT
Operator:
Registration:
G-EARU
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Paris - Croydon
MSN:
P.59
YOM:
1920
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot, Captain Bayliss, was performing a regular schedule flight from Paris-Le Bourget to Croydon. En route, south of Maidstone, Kent, he encountered technical problems and made an emergency landing in a field located in Marden. All four passengers disembarked and continued their trip to London by train. During the day, the airplane was repaired and took off again in the evening to Croydon, this time with three passengers on board, the farmer (owner of the field where the pilot completed the emergency landing), his wife and a friend. While cruising south of Dartford in twilight, the pilot encountered engine trouble and elected to make another emergency landing. He reduced his altitude and elected to land in Swanley Junction. Upon landing in a cornfield, the aircraft crashed and came to rest upside down. The pilot and two passengers were slightly injured while another passenger (Mrs Madeline Day), was seriously injured. She died one year later at the age of 28 from kidney failure which the coroner concluded at the inquest, was directly attributable to the accident.
Probable cause:
Engine failure.
