Date & Time:
May 27, 1944
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
LK502
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Wigsley - Wigsley
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew was involved in a night photography exercise and left RAF Wigsley bound for the Menai Bridge and back. En route, at least one engine failed and the aircraft lost height. The captain ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft but only four crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed. Four crew members survived while all four others were killed.
Crew (1654th HCU):
F/O Gordon Noble Leach, pilot, †
F/S Frederick Thomas James Nicholls, flight engineer,
F/S Arthur C. Brett, flight engineer,
F/S Geoffray Norman Wise, navigator,
Sgt D. C. Watson, bomb aimer,
F/S Bernard David Fine, wireless operator, †
Sgt Harry Ward, air gunner, †
Sgt Charles David Howes, air gunner. †
Crew (1654th HCU):
F/O Gordon Noble Leach, pilot, †
F/S Frederick Thomas James Nicholls, flight engineer,
F/S Arthur C. Brett, flight engineer,
F/S Geoffray Norman Wise, navigator,
Sgt D. C. Watson, bomb aimer,
F/S Bernard David Fine, wireless operator, †
Sgt Harry Ward, air gunner, †
Sgt Charles David Howes, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Engine trouble.
