Date & Time:
Mar 17, 1948 at 0947 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 619 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
RP499
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Topcliffe - Topcliffe
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a night training sortie at RAF Topcliffe. Shortly after takeoff, while climbing at a height of some 300 feet, the aircraft collided with a second Vickers 619 Wellington X. Registered RP565, it was carrying another crew of four, was also completing a training flight and was attempting to land. Both aircraft went out of control and crashed in a field near the airport. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt Franciszek Kula, pilot,
Colin Bass, pilot,
Sig Walter Ernest Leslie Howell,
Sig Arthur Edward Highman,
F/Lt William James Jones,
F/Lt Robert Sneddon Laird,
F/Lt Harry Corelius New,
F/Lt John Edge Kerslake.
Crew:
F/Lt Franciszek Kula, pilot,
Colin Bass, pilot,
Sig Walter Ernest Leslie Howell,
Sig Arthur Edward Highman,
F/Lt William James Jones,
F/Lt Robert Sneddon Laird,
F/Lt Harry Corelius New,
F/Lt John Edge Kerslake.
