West Sussex

On final approach to RAF Tangmere, the twin engine aircraft was too low, hit a hedge and crashed. All three crew members were slightly injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On final approach to RAF Tangmere, the twin engine aircraft was hit by a flare and crash landed on the runway, bursting into flames. All three crew members were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The airplane departed RAF Dishforth on a night training flight over The Channel. In unknown circumstances, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea some 6 km south of Selsey. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.
Crew:
P/O Frederick William Miller,
P/O Allan Frederick William Miles,
Sgt Horace Cutts,
AC1 Harry Thompson,
AC1 Ralph Lavery,
AC1 John Robert Hanley.

The crew was performing a local training flight at RAF Tangmere on behalf of the 217th Squadron. Following a wrong approach configuration, the crew overshot and landed too far down the runway. After touchdown, the twin engine aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in a field. Both pilots evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

En route from RAF Mildenhall to RAF Tangmere at night, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls. The airplane deviated from the prescribed routing and eventually went out of control and crashed in a field located in Stophan Bridge, west of Pulborough. All four crew members were killed. At the time of the accident, the airplane was off course by 100 miles, probably after the pilot got lost in poor weather conditions.
Crew:
P/O Andrew Aitken,
Sgt Duncan Robert Francis Ross,
Cpl John Bennett,
LAC Willian Lemnal Sellince.

On approach to Shoreham, at an altitude of 1,000 feet, the pilot lost control of the airplane that entered a dive and crashed into the sea. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft was owned by Sir William Firth but this day piloted by Ken Firth and Jimmy Gunn. On approach to Shoreham Aerodrome, the aircraft was too low and collided with an 11,000 volts power line. It stalled and crashed in a field in Upper Beeding, some 3 km north of the airfield. Both occupants evacuated the cabin and were uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed.

The pilot was performing a night solo training flight at RAF Tangmere. Following several touch & go manoeuvres, he initiated a new approach. On final, the airplane impacted a tree with its right wing and crashed short of runway. The pilot was injured.

Following a maritime patrol mission, the crew was returning to RAF Tangmere. The twin engine airplane landed too far down the runway and was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran and came to rest. All four crew members from the 217th Squadron evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was employed on the regular night mail service between Gatwick and Hanover and the crash occurred on the return flight from Hanover when the pilot was preparing to approach the vicinity of Gatwick Airport. The pilot Hattersley was, in fact, on his first ever return flight on this route with this type of aircraft, although he had flown the double journey four times previously in a DH.86. On the flight in question the pilot had been flying in cloud over most of the route and particularly over England. The weather conditions were bad with lots of low cloud at about 200 metres and there was a strong NE wind reaching as much as 60kn/h at ground level. The pilot navigated by means of W/T bearings sent from Croydon, Lympne, Pulham and Gatwick. Hattersley successfully brought the Fokker through cloud to the vicinity of the airport, and his engines were clearly heard from the ground. Control told him that they had heard him and sent a further five bearings in quick succession - no acknowledgement was received for the last bearing and the Fokker sent no further messages. Repeated attempts were made to communicate with G-AEOT but without success. Gatwick then telephoned every local police station in an endeavour to learn whether anyone had heard anything of the aircraft. A search party, including the airport ambulance and fire engine, set out. At 0610 the wireless operator (C.G.V. Wheeler) of the missing aircraft telephoned the control officer at Crawley and stated that the machine had crashed to the south of Crawley. The local ambulance was informed and it left immediately for the scene of the accident. G-AEOT had crashed into trees on Round Hill, 4 miles south of Gatwick Airport. It was upside down and extensively damaged, with the fuselage completely broken up. The flight engineer, G.R.C. Blowers, was lying injured on the ground near the machine, and Hattersley and the second pilot, V.C.W. Bredenkamp, were both dead in the wreckage.
Source: http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=925.0