Date & Time:
Jul 18, 1944 at 1200 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 440 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
MF584
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Lichfield - Lichfield
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The aircraft left RAF Lichfield at 1830LT on a training exercise. In flight, while cruising at an altitude of 9,000 feet, a propeller blade broke off from the starboard engine. Severe vibrations developed on the engine that fell off shortly later. The crew decided to abandon the aircraft and bailed out. Out of control, the aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a field located in Marchington, some 3 miles southeast of Uttoxeter. It was destroyed while all five crew members were unhurt.
Crew (27th OTU):
F/Sgt John Sutherland Walker, pilot,
P/O John Strange East, navigator,
Sgt Joseph Arthur Barnard, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Harry Kearsley Chamberlain, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Brian Joseph Mordecai, air gunner.
Crew (27th OTU):
F/Sgt John Sutherland Walker, pilot,
P/O John Strange East, navigator,
Sgt Joseph Arthur Barnard, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Harry Kearsley Chamberlain, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Brian Joseph Mordecai, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Severe vibrations due to the loss of a propeller blade on the right engine.
