Date & Time:
Apr 14, 1942 at 1246 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
R9488
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dalton - Dalton
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
8
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dalton on a test flight with eight crew members on board. In flight, it went out of control and crashed in an open field located at York Gate Farm in Baldersby, bursting into flames. All eight occupants were killed.
Crew:
Crew
F/Lt Harry Malcolm Williams, pilot,
Sgt John Kirkpatrick Morris, pilot,
Sgt Noel Grimoldby, flight engineer,
Sgt Philip Leonard Newell Trehearn, observer,
Sgt Kenneth Harold Sutton, wireless operator,
Sgt Kenneth O'Connelley, wireless operator,
F/Lt Henry Noel Ross, air gunner,
LAC John Livesey, ground crew.
Crew:
Crew
F/Lt Harry Malcolm Williams, pilot,
Sgt John Kirkpatrick Morris, pilot,
Sgt Noel Grimoldby, flight engineer,
Sgt Philip Leonard Newell Trehearn, observer,
Sgt Kenneth Harold Sutton, wireless operator,
Sgt Kenneth O'Connelley, wireless operator,
F/Lt Henry Noel Ross, air gunner,
LAC John Livesey, ground crew.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the crash was causes by rudder overbalance. Eye witnesses report the Halifax executing a series of left and right turns, before stalling and spinning into the ground.
