Date & Time:
Oct 15, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Avro 652 Anson
Operator:
Registration:
L7968
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Cranage - Cranage
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
Following a night training mission, while returning to RAF Cranage, the pilot mistook a navigation beacon and instead starting the descent through the airbase, went off course. Shortly later, in low visibility, the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of a mountain near Buxton. All four occupants were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Paul Joseph Woodcock, pilot,
Sgt James Munro Matheson, pilot,
Sgt Richard James Reay, pilot,
Sgt William Gordon Dale, wireless operator and air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Paul Joseph Woodcock, pilot,
Sgt James Munro Matheson, pilot,
Sgt Richard James Reay, pilot,
Sgt William Gordon Dale, wireless operator and air gunner.
Probable cause:
Wrong interpretation of a navigation beacon en route on part of the crew, causing a fatal navigational error.
