Date & Time:
May 16, 1936
Type of aircraft:
General Aircraft ST-4 Monospar
Operator:
Registration:
G-ADLM
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
30
YOM:
1935
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:
Shortly after takeoff from Croydon Airport, the airplane stalled and crashed. The pilot Ellis Hill, sole on board, was killed.
Probable cause:
Captain F. S. Wilkins, an Air Ministry Inspector of Accidents, said he found everything about the machine in perfect order, but it was inexplicable that the two main petrol cocks were shut off, and he did not think that the impact with the ground had anything to do with it. If the pilot did become momentarily confused he might have accidentally shut off the main cocks instead of the balance cocks, which were the same row. The jury returned a verdict that the crash was due to failure of the petrol supply but that there insufficient evidence to show how it came to be cut off.
