Date & Time: Apr 18, 1942 at 1500 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
R5539
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Boscombe Down - Boscombe Down
Location:
Charlton
Wiltshire
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:
This test flight followed a crash of a Lancaster that had suffered a loss of a section of wing paneling on its return to England from a bombing raid on Germany. All the Lancaster aircraft at that time were brand new Lancaster 1s. The crashes were caused by faulty design of the skin/rivets on the upper wind out section. This resulted in all the Lancaster in service at that time being taken off operations and confined to navigation and night flying training flights over the UK. The Lancaster had taken off from Boscombe Down with a simulated full bomb load of concrete bombs to carry out diving trials from 13,000 feet down to 5,000 feet at various engine settings. Witnesses saw the Lancaster emerge from cloud in a slight dive, then roll onto its back and right itself before diving steeply into the ground at very high speed, crashing in a field in Charlton, norhteast of Malmesbury. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
W/Cdr Peter Stanley Salter, pilot,
S/L Jack Donald Harris, pilot,
F/Lt Percy Frederick Wakelin, observer,
F/Lt Norman Gladswood Wilson, air gunner,
Sgt Kenneth John Jones, wireless operator.
Source:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Probable cause:
A subsequent investigation revealed that a panel just over 5 feet by 2 feet had come away from behind the outboard engine due to the failure of the rivets holding it in place. This panel then hit the tail and the airplane had then gone out of control.