Crash of a Farman F.60 Goliath in Marden

Date & Time: Apr 27, 1931
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
F-ADDT
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Paris – Croydon
MSN:
228
YOM:
1920
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Marden, the airplane went out of control and crashed in an open field located in Widehurst Farm. Both crew members were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of an Avro 504K in Bekesbourne

Date & Time: Jan 2, 1931
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
G-AARV
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lympne – Bekesbourne
MSN:
R/R3/SP/312
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot, sole on board, departed Lympne on a flight to Bekesbourne. On approach. the engine failed and the aircraft crashed in a field. The pilot was rescued.
Probable cause:
Engine failure on approach.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.9A at RAF Hawkinge

Date & Time: Nov 7, 1930 at 1300 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
J8491
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Bristol – Hawkinge
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On approach to RAF Hawkinge, the aircraft crashed in a field. The pilot George Ninian Warrington was injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Vickers 139 Virginia X in Manston: 2 killed

Date & Time: Nov 4, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
J7561
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Manston - Manston
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew departed Manston on a local training mission. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the airplane stalled and crashed, bursting into flames. Two crew members were killed and a third was injured.
Crew:
F/O Frederick Robert Walter Goad, †
Sgt George William Roberts, †
AC1 Alan William Edwards.

Crash of a Junkers F.13ge in Meopham: 6 killed

Date & Time: Jul 21, 1930 at 1435 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
G-AAZK
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Le Touquet – Croydon
MSN:
2052
YOM:
1930
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Le Touquet on a taxi flight to Croydon, carrying four passengers and a crew of two. While cruising above Kent, the single engine airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a near vertical attitude in a private garden located in Meopham, some five miles south of Gravesend. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
George Lochart Henderson, pilot
Charles d'Urban Shearing, copilot.
Passengers:
Mr. Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava,
Mrs. Rosemary Millicent Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Viscountess Ednam,
Mr. Edward Simons Ward,
Mrs. Sigrid Loeffler.
Probable cause:
The Head of the Aeronautical Research Commission (ACR) Major Cooper believes that the lost of the cover of the engine might well be the reason for the accident. An aeronautical research committee attributed the crash to buffeting, or irregular oscillation, of the horizontal stabilizer of G-AAZK. This condition itself apparently resulted from wake ‘eddies’ produced by air flowing over the relatively thick main wing of the Junkers. Ultimately, the oscillation led to the separation of the port stabilizer/elevator assembly, then the entire empennage, after which the port wing broke off and the nose/power plant section separated. The Germans on the other hand discounted this theory and seemed to imply that the crash may have been due to pilot error and/or the weather conditions.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.60X Moth in Detling: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jul 20, 1930 at 1400 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
G-EBUR
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Detling - Hamble
MSN:
446
YOM:
1927
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The pilot/owner S. E. H. Spencer was accompanied by Miss Grace and on the day of the accident, the two people had arrived at Detling at 1300LT from Hamble, Hampshire. After a lunch break, Miss Grace suggested that the pilot should carry out some aerobatics before proceeding on the return journey. They took off in a normal manner and climbed to 300 feet whilst circling the landing ground, and then Spencer executed a half-roll to port. This manoeuvre was followed, as soon as the Moth had recovered from the loss of height, by a loop which was made with a very low margin of speed and from which the machine leveled out at only 50 feet above the ground. It then assumed a slightly climbing attitude, rolled, and nose dived straight into the ground. Witnesses said that the engine was shut off when the Moth completed the first half of the loop, and was not heard to accelerate again. Examination of the charred wreckage didn't reveal any obvious defects in the airframe or engine, and it was apparent that it had crashed in a stalled condition. The petrol tank came into violent contact with the engine on impact and was crushed before igniting, hence the fierceness of the fire.
Probable cause:
The investigators' conclusion was that G-EBUR had crashed due to an error of judgement on the part of the pilot which caused the aircraft to stall on completing a loop at extremely low altitude.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth in the Goodwin Sands

Date & Time: Jun 22, 1930
Registration:
G-AAXN
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Croydon – Paris
MSN:
2012
YOM:
1930
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
En route from Croydon to Paris, the pilot became lost while cruising in poor visibility due to mist. He spotted the French trawler named 'Sirius' and descended too low when a wing tip impacted the water surface. The aircraft flipped over and crashed. All three occupants were rescued by the crew of the trawler.

Crash of a Farman F.63bis Goliath in Penshurst

Date & Time: May 2, 1930 at 0930 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
F-ADCA
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Paris - Croydon
MSN:
33
YOM:
1921
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Paris-Le Bourget Airport in the early morning on a cargo flight to Croydon, carrying two crew members and a load of 550 kg of various goods and mail. En route, the pilot Henri Roth encountered technical problems while flying in poor visibility due to foggy conditions. After passing over Tonbridge, the airplane was low on fuel and the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing at Penshurst Aerodrome. The airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, impacted a hedge and crashed near a road. Both crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Emergency landing caused by a fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.60 Moth in Smarden

Date & Time: Feb 27, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
G-EBPM
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lympne - Lympne
MSN:
353
YOM:
1927
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew departed Lympne on a local training flight. En route, the pilot-in-command lost control of the airplane that crashed in a prairie in Smarden, about 12 km west of Ashford. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were injured.

Crash of a Farman F.63bis Goliath in Marden: 2 killed

Date & Time: Feb 10, 1930 at 1250 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
F-FHMY
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Paris - Croydon
MSN:
21/6844
YOM:
1920
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Paris-Le Bourget Airport at 1005LT bound for Croydon. Fifteen minutes later, engine problems forced the crew to return to Le Bourget. Spark plugs were changed and the crew took off again at 1045LT. While cruising in the vicinity of Maidstone, Kent, the crew heard a loud bang coming from the rear of the aircraft. A part of the stabilizer detached and pilot reduced his altitude when all passengers were positioned in the rear of the cabin. On approach to a snow covered field located in Marden, at a height of 15 metres, the pilot cut both engines when the aircraft gain height and climbed to a height of 30 metres. Then it stalled and crashed on the ground, bursting into flames. The passenger Hugh Curzon who was unhurt, could rescue and evacuate all three crew members who were injured, but was unable to rescue both other passengers who remained prisoners of the cabin under fire.
Crew:
Henri Nevot, pilot,
Mr. Le Sollier, mechanic,
Mr. Alveaux, radio.
Passengers:
Hugh Curzon, employee of Cook Company in Paris,
Mr. & Mrs. A. Hodges, US citizen who get back to England following a honeymoon in Paris.
Probable cause:
According to investigations, the accident was the consequence of fatigue of the upper front strut of the right tail which failed in flight, causing the spar to fail as well. Investigators confirmed that the crew and the operator does not have any responsibility in the accident.