Date & Time:
May 24, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.52 Hampden
Operator:
Registration:
P1336
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a night training mission when the airplane collided with the Coventry balloon barrage and crashed. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O James Melville Dundas Irvine, pilot,
Sgt John Raymond Collingham, observer,
AC1 Sydney Ewbank Firth, wireless operator.
Crew:
P/O James Melville Dundas Irvine, pilot,
Sgt John Raymond Collingham, observer,
AC1 Sydney Ewbank Firth, wireless operator.
Probable cause:
Loss of control following an in-flight collision with a barrage balloon.
