Munster | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

Crashed in unknown circumstances on the slope of Mt Brandon, Munster. All six Polish crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Klemens Adamowicz,
Sgt/C Stanislaw Czerniawski,
Sgt/C Pawel Kowalewicz,
Sgt/C Naftali Hirsz Pawel Kuflik,
Pvt Kazimierz Lugowski,
Cpl Wincenty Pietrzak.

Probable cause:

Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-60-DL near Killarney: 5 killed

Date & Time: Dec 17, 1943 at 0700 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

43-30719

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Port Lyautey – Saint Eval

MSN:

13870

YOM:

1943

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While cruising in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Cnoc na Peiste (988 metres high) located southwest of Killarney. All 5 occupants were killed.
Crew:
2nd Lt Frederick V. Brossard,
2nd Lt Lawrence E. Goodin,
S/Sgt Wesley T. Holstlaw,
2nd Lt John L. Scharf,
Sgt Arthur A. Schwartz .

Probable cause:

It is believed that the accident was caused by a navigational error on part of the crew who failed to change his heading after leaving the Portuguese airspace and while flying over the Bay of Biscay. The crew was assuming he was flying over Cornwall when in reality, the aircraft was flying over south of Ireland.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland III on Brandon Peak: 8 killed

Date & Time: Aug 22, 1943 at 0600 LT

Type of aircraft:

Short S.25 Sunderland

Operator:

Registration:

DD848

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Castle Archdale - Castle Archdale

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Following a maritime patrol flight over the Atlantic Ocean, the crew was returning to his base in RAF Castle Archdale. In early morning, while flying over Munster province in marginal weather conditions and low visibility, the seaplane hit the Brandon Peak and crashed. Eight crew members were killed while three others were wounded.
Crew (422nd Squadron):
F/O Guy Nelson Wilkinson, pilot 10.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland III near Brandon: 10 killed

Date & Time: Jul 28, 1943 at 0520 LT

Type of aircraft:

Short S.25 Sunderland

Operator:

Registration:

G-AGES

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Lagos – Lisbon – Foynes

YOM:

1942

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Circumstances:

By night, the crew overflew the Shannon estuary and continued to the north at an altitude of 6,000 feet. Forty-five minutes later, the captain disengaged the automatic pilot system and started the descent manually. After passing through the last cloud layer, the crew distinguished the ground but did not realized that his altitude was to low. The seaplane hit the slope of Mt Brandon with its right wing, stalled and crashed in flames southwest of Brandon village. Fifteen occupants were injured while ten others were killed, among them the captain.
Crew:
Thomas Allitt, pilot, †
John Harrop Slater, copilot,
Eric William Vincent, navigator,
Charles Harry P. Phillips, radio operator,
Frederick Thomas James Parr, radio operator,
Victor Rawlinson, flight engineer,
Ralph Bousquet Lawes, flight engineer.
Passengers:
David William Stannard, †
John Diarmuid Hartigan, †
Arthur Friedrich Rawson Lumby, †
William Sacheverell Hebden,
Lewis Milner, †
Sidney Leonard Pullinger, †
Ian Kenneth Thom, †
Harold Tristram, †
Thomas Watson Thomson,
Kenneth Joseph Devall, †
Leonard King,
Victor Francis Edward Simmons,
Oliver Frith,
Alfred Brooker Depree,
Max Albert Roth, †
Lloyd Gilbert French,
Roy Elliott Bertram,
Raymond François Larche.
Source: http://www.csn.ul.ie/~dan/war/gages.pdf

Probable cause:

Navigation for the flight west from Foynes was by compass and loop bearing on the ground radio station and there was no request from the aircraft for QTE bearings to be transmitted from the radio station. If it is assumed that the aircraft's loop bearing on the radio station was free from error, the alteration in the aircraft's track should have been immediately apparent by a change in the compass course. Alternatively, if the course remained constant the alteration in track should have been indicated by a change in the loop bearing. The departure from the required track was not discovered by the crew and the reason for this is not conclusively evident. Radio direction-finding apparatus of the type used on the aircraft is subject to error around sunset and sunrise. The presence of this error, known as “Night Effect” cannot always be detected, even by experienced radio operators. The probable final cause of the accident was “Night Effect” which affected the accuracy of the direction-finding apparatus on the aircraft. The contributory causes of the accident may be summarized as follows:
- A strong south-westerly wind which resulted in the aircraft's arriving at Shannon Airport thirty minutes before its scheduled time of arrival;
- A change in wind direction from S.W. To N.W. in the Shannon area around the actual time of arrival;
- The pilots error in technique in relying entirely on the aircraft's loop bearings for radio assistance to the exclusion of direction signals from the ground station.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.91 Albatross in Shannon

Date & Time: Jul 6, 1943

Type of aircraft:

De Havilland DH.91 Albatross

Operator:

Registration:

G-AFDK

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Bristol – Shannon

MSN:

6804

YOM:

1938

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On touchdown at Shannon-Rinneanna Airport, the aircraft went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest. While all 14 occupants escaped uninjured, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
Geoffrey Palliser Moss, pilot,
D. M. Revell, radio operator,
C. Caseley, flight engineer,
R. Gilmour,
A. H. Wigmore.
Passengers:
Neil Richardson,
Simon Marks,
Pauline Gower,
Gerard d'Erlanger,
John Marchbank,
David Smillie Smith MacDowall,
Grahame Temple Meller,
Keith Granville,
Piers John Barnes Wimbush.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland off Doonbeg: 9 killed

Date & Time: Dec 3, 1941 at 1830 LT

Type of aircraft:

Short S.25 Sunderland

Operator:

Registration:

W3988

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While engaged in a maritime patrol flight, the floatplane went out of control and crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea some 2,5 miles off Carrowmore, near Doonbeg. Nine crew members were killed and two others were injured.
Crew (201st Squadron):
F/Lt James Grant Fleming, pilot,
P/O Wilfred Sefton Emmett, pilot, †
Sgt Eric Willows Jackson, pilot, †
P/O Eric Gerald Marker, observer, †
Sgt Sydney James, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Maurice Walter Gerald Fox, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt James Cannell Masterton, wireless operator and air gunner,
LAC Frederick Walter Lea, flight engineer, †
LAC Arthur Doncaster, †
LAC Andrew Patrick Walker, †
AC1 Albert Everall Bennett. †

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC in Clonwhite

Date & Time: Oct 25, 1941 at 0730 LT

Type of aircraft:

Vickers 416 Wellington IC

Operator:

Registration:

T2506

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

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Circumstances:

The airplane departed RAF Elsham Wolds at 2122LT on October 24 on an operation to Frankfurt. While returning to base the following morning, the crew got lost. The airplane continued over the Irish Sea and Ireland, and as it ran out of fuel, was abandoned by the crew. The airplane dove into the ground and crashed in Clonwhite, two miles northwest of Kilmihil, County Clare, and was totally destroyed. All six crew members parachuted to safety and were interned.
Crew:
P/O Ralph Gardner Keefer, pilot,
Sgt Leslie George Diaper, pilot,
P/O John Philip Calder, observer,
Sgt Albert Colin Dalton, radio operator,
Sgt Maurice Bertram Brown, air gunner,
Sgt Alexander Virtue, air gunner.

Probable cause:

Fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Heinkel He.111H-5 in Lauragh: 4 killed

Date & Time: Feb 23, 1941

Type of aircraft:

Heinkel He.111

Operator:

Registration:

1G+LS

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

MSN:

1605

YOM:

1936

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The airplane was attacking fishing vessels south of the Irish coast when it was shot down by enemy fire and later crashed in Lauragh. All four crew members were killed.
Crew:
Fw Arnold Putz, pilot,
Oblt Konrad Hafele,
Fw Werner Seegner,
Fw Friedrich Schultz.

Probable cause:

Shot down by enemy fire.

Crash of a Focke-Wulf Fw.200C-3 Condor in Derryfunshion: 5 killed

Date & Time: Feb 5, 1941 at 0825 LT

Type of aircraft:

Focke-Wulf Fw.200 Condor

Operator:

Registration:

F8+AH

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

0042

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Circumstances:

The four engine airplane crashed in hilly terrain in southwest Ireland, bursting into flames. A crew was seriously injured and five others were killed.
Crew:
Oblt Paul Gömmer, commander, †
Obfw Willi Dose, pilot, †
Obfw Werner Albrecht, flight engineer, †
Maj Erhard Ludwig Herrström, meteorologist, †
Obfw Max Mohaus, radio operator,
Fw Walter Clasen, air gunner. †

Probable cause:

It is believed that the crew got lost in foggy conditions until the airplane impacted ground.

Crash of a Blohm & Voss BV 138A-1 off Blasket Islands

Date & Time: Nov 25, 1940

Type of aircraft:

Blohm & Voss BV 138

Operator:

Registration:

8L+CK

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

MSN:

381

YOM:

1940

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The floatplane was engaged in a maritime patrol flight off the Irish coast when it suffered an engine failure. The pilot ditched the airplane off the Blasket Islands and the airplane drifted until it crashed on rocks. The crew was rescued three days later and interned.
Crew:
Uffz Wilhelm Krupp, pilot,
Oblt Konrad Neymeyr, observer,
Uffz Erwin Sack, radio operator,
Fw Hans Biegel, mechanic,
Ogefr Ernst Kalkowski, air gunner.

Probable cause:

Engine failure.

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