Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I in Bransdale: 2 killed

Date & Time: Mar 21, 1940 at 0225 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
L1117
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Catterick - Catterick
MSN:
8400
YOM:
1938
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
Following a reconnaissance mission at night, the crew was returning to his base at RAF Catterick. Due to poor visibility caused by low clouds, the crew reduced his altitude in an attempt to establish a visual contact with the ground or to find the correct direction to the base. Doing so, the airplane descended too low and impacted the slope of a hill located near Bransdale. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Horace Philips, pilot,
AC1 Frank Prosser, wireless operator and air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.