Crash of a Vickers 619 Wellington X off Roscoff: 3 killed
Date & Time:
Sep 13, 1946
Operator:
Registration:
NC630
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Shawbury - Shawbury
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a training flight from RAF Shawbury. After flying over the island of Ouessant, heading to Straits of Dover, both engines failed simultaneously. Unable to restart the engines, the captain was forced to reduce his altitude and attempted to ditch the aircraft off Roscoff. On rough sea, the aircraft landed quite hard and broke in two. Three crew members were able to take refuge in a dinghy while three others were drowned when the aircraft sank and was lost. The crew of a merchant ship arrived on the scene about 5 hours later and evacuated the three survivors that were later landed at Plymouth.
Crew:
F/Lt Franczak, pilot,
F/O Ken S. Delbridge, navigator,
Sgt Bennett, signaler,
Cad Joseph Smith, †
Sgt Smith, †
Sgt Singh. †
Crew:
F/Lt Franczak, pilot,
F/O Ken S. Delbridge, navigator,
Sgt Bennett, signaler,
Cad Joseph Smith, †
Sgt Smith, †
Sgt Singh. †
Probable cause:
It appears that a crew wanted to switch the fuel selector to the auxiliary tanks because the main one was near empty. In doing so, he inadvertently cut the fuel supply, causing both engines to stop.
