Date & Time:
Jul 12, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 424 Wellington IV
Operator:
Registration:
W5795
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Boscombe Down - Boscombe Down
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane was an experimental machine fitted with a pressurized cabin for high-altitude reconnaissance operations. After the cabin pressurization system was checked, while cruising at an altitude of 32,500 feet, a section of one of the propeller blades sheared off, penetrating the cabin, causing a loss of pressure and possibly incapacitating the pilot. The airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and broke up before crashing in an open field located between the villages of Dale Abbey and Ockbrook. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
S/L Cyril Lancelot Fellowes Colmore, pilot,
F/Sgt Ronald Potts Gillott, wireless operator,
P/O Kenneth Radford, air gunner,
F/Sgt Arthur James Smith, observer,
Mr. C. V Abbott, flight test observer.
Crew:
S/L Cyril Lancelot Fellowes Colmore, pilot,
F/Sgt Ronald Potts Gillott, wireless operator,
P/O Kenneth Radford, air gunner,
F/Sgt Arthur James Smith, observer,
Mr. C. V Abbott, flight test observer.
Probable cause:
Loss of a propeller blade in flight.
