Date & Time: Nov 14, 1944 at 1240 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 685 York
Operator:
Registration:
MW126
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Northolt - Kandy
MSN:
MW126
YOM:
1944
Location:
Le Rivier d’Allemont
Isère
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
3
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
10
Captain / Total flying hours:
2045
Circumstances:
The aircraft was on its way to Kandy, Ceylon, with a crew of 7 and three passengers on board, among them Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and his wife. While flying east of Grenoble at an altitude of 8,000 feet, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with snowstorm and fog. The crew elected to return but the Air Marshal insisted to continue. Shortly later, the four engine aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located 2 km west of Le Rivier d'Allemont and was totally destroyed. All ten occupants were killed. All rescue operations were suspended after few days as no trace of the aircraft was found. The wreckage and the dead bodies were eventually spotted by a local resident on June 4, 1945. Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory was appointed Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC).
Crew:
S/L Gordon Lancaster, pilot,
F/L Peter Chinn, copilot,
F/L Keith Mooring, navigator,
F/L John Casey, wireless operator,
F/O John Enser, flight engineer,
Cpl John Burgess, fitter,
L/A John Burnett, fitter,
Sgt Harold Chandler, steward.
Passengers:
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory,
Lady Doris Jean Leigh-Mallory.
Probable cause:
A court of inquiry found that the accident was a consequence of bad weather and might have been avoided if Leigh-Mallory had not insisted that the flight proceed in such poor conditions against the advice of his aircrew