Date & Time:
Mar 13, 1942 at 2325 LT
Type of aircraft:
Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley
Operator:
Registration:
Z6975
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
City
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
MSN:
2257
YOM:
1941
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 departed RAF Leeming at 1816LT on an operation to Boulogne. While returning to base in the late evening, it stalled on final approach and crashed onto a house. Four crew members were killed while the wireless operator was seriously injured. He later died from injuries sustained. There were no casualties on the ground.
Crew:
F/Sgt John Lyndon Moore, pilot,
Sgt James Ernest Church, copilot,
Sgt Kenneth Clarence Edward Corke, observer,
F/Sgt Richard James Lewis, wireless operator,
Sgt Neil Shaw Smith, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Sgt John Lyndon Moore, pilot,
Sgt James Ernest Church, copilot,
Sgt Kenneth Clarence Edward Corke, observer,
F/Sgt Richard James Lewis, wireless operator,
Sgt Neil Shaw Smith, air gunner.
Probable cause:
It is believed that icing conditions acting on the airframe may have given wrong airspeed readings and the pilot was unaware that the airplane was about to stall. Ice formations on the windscreen were also to blame which limited the pilot's visibility.
