Date & Time:
Dec 31, 1952
Type of aircraft:
Airspeed AS.10 Oxford
Operator:
Registration:
MP287
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Thorney Island - Wellesbourne Mountford
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The pilot was completing a solo training mission from RAF Thorney Island to RAF Wellesbourne Mountford, Warwickshire. En route, while cruising by night and marginal weather conditions, he lost control of the airplane that crashed in a field located in Temple Guiting, about 10 miles northeast of Cheltenham. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the loss of control was caused by an excessive accumulation of frost or ice on the aircraft during flight. The assumption that the pilot lost his orientation due to the accretion of ice on the windshield is not ruled out.
