Date & Time:
Mar 31, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
R9438
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Kinloss - Sumburgh
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Kinloss to attack the German battleship Tirpitz moored in the Fættenfjord northeast of Trondheim. While returning to base at Sumburgh, the crew encountered poor visibility. On final approach to the airfield, the airplane crashed on the 1,000 feet high Fitful Head located about 5 km northwest of the airport. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Joseph Bryan Bushby, pilot,
Sgt Anthony John Peach, pilot,
Sgt Geoffrey Noel Edward Powell, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Meredith, flight engineer,
P/O Moses Lewis Usher, wireless operator,
F/Sgt John Peter Burton Buckley, wireless operator,
Sgt John Allan Wood, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Sgt Joseph Bryan Bushby, pilot,
Sgt Anthony John Peach, pilot,
Sgt Geoffrey Noel Edward Powell, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Meredith, flight engineer,
P/O Moses Lewis Usher, wireless operator,
F/Sgt John Peter Burton Buckley, wireless operator,
Sgt John Allan Wood, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.
