Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley in the Fathan Glinne Mountain Range: 5 killed

Date & Time: Nov 24, 1950
Operator:
Registration:
P5090
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
MSN:
1798
YOM:
1940
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a night training flight and was returning to his base in Belfast-Aldergrove when the pilot in command lost his orientation and continued to the northeast to Scotland. While running out of fuel in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in the Fathan Glinne Mountain Range, near the village of Balquhidder, by the Loch Voil. A crew member was seriously injured while five others were killed.
Crew:
Sgt John James Westoby, pilot, †
Sgt William John Barnfather, pilot, †
Sgt John Whitsed, observer, †
Sgt James Gerrard Curtis, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Jack Perfect, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt W. S. Hamilton, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Nantes: 5 killed

Date & Time: Jun 11, 1943 at 0114 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BD442
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Honeybourne - Honeybourne
MSN:
2673
YOM:
1942
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Honeybourne on a leaflet dropping operation over Nantes. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed. Five crew members were killed and one became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Leslie Frank Cook, pilot, †
Sgt Denis Leslie Williams, navigator, †
Sgt John Monteith, bomb aimer, †
Sgt William Henry Cox, air gunner, †
Sgt William Tom Seaman, air gunner, †
Sgt Jack Dawson.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Sherburn-in-Elmet

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1943 at 1530 LT
Registration:
Z9419
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Sherburn-in-Elmet - Sherburn-in-Elmet
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Sherburn-in-Elmet around 1500LT on a local training flight. About 30 minutes later, the right engine lost power. Because the crew was unable to maintain a safe altitude, he attempted an emergency landing in an open field. Upon landing, the undercarriage collapsed and the airplane came to a halt. Both crew members escaped unhurt and the bomber was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
F/O Tom Winnington, instructor pilot,
F/O Stanley John Rane, student pilot.
Probable cause:
Failure of the right engine in flight after a magneto had a broken drive shaft.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Honeybourne: 5 killed

Date & Time: Jun 2, 1943 at 1415 LT
Operator:
Registration:
Z6639
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Honeybourne - Honeybourne
MSN:
2073
YOM:
1941
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a local training flight at Honeybourne. After the pilot was given a red signal by the airfield controller, he initiated a circuit near the airfield when the airplane struck a hill in clouds. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Harris Gordon Hagen, pilot,
Sgt Richard Stanley Phillips, navigator,
F/Sgt Donald Herbert Kelly, bomb aimer,
Sgt Donald Alfred Marriott, wireless operator,
Sgt George Edward Ekins, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V near Rhyl

Date & Time: May 17, 1943 at 1745 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BD204
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Honeybourne - Honeybourne
MSN:
2524
YOM:
1942
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Honeybourne on a navigation exercise. En route, the port engine failed and the pilot made an emergency landing in an open field located in Rhyl. The airplane was damaged beyond repair and the crew escaped unhurt.
Crew:
Sgt J. W. Clark, pilot,
Sgt John Alexander Inverarity.
Probable cause:
Failure of the left engine in flight.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V near Nairn: 5 killed

Date & Time: May 17, 1943 at 0200 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BD295
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Kinloss - Kinloss
MSN:
2602
YOM:
1942
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Kinloss on a night navigation exercise. While cruising at low altitude in limited visibility, it impacted the slope of a mountain in Cawdor Moor, near Nairn. Three crew members were seriously injured while four others were killed. Two days later, one of the survivor died from injuries sustained.
Crew (19th OTU):
F/Lt Raymond Wilson Pitts McFarland, pilot,
Sgt Kenneth Johnson Sampson, pilot, †
F/O Alexander Chalmers Barrie, navigator, †
Sgt Ronald Hartley, air bomber, †
F/Sgt Arthur Thomas Hawkins, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Ronald Alfred Hartwell, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Padley, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Alsop en le Dale: 1 killed

Date & Time: May 13, 1943 at 1835 LT
Operator:
Registration:
EB338
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Tilstock - Lincoln - Peterborough - Tilstock
MSN:
2789
YOM:
1942
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
Only half an hour in the flight, which was routed as Base – Lincoln – Peterborough – Base, the port engine failed, it was successfully re-started and it ran at full power, however after only 3 to 4 minutes this engine failed again. The Instructor took over the controls and ordered the crew to take up crash positions, however Sgt Belec was unable to leave the nose as the aircraft was fitted with dual controls which blocked his escape route. He then attempted a forced landing in one of the fields near Alsop, but found that none of the fields was large enough to land in. The aircraft touched down and ran the width of one field before it struck the boundary wall on the eastern side of the Buxton to Ashbourne railway (now the Tissington Trail) traveled across the line tearing up the track and came to rest part way down an adjoining field. Shortly before the crash a train travelling towards Ashbourne had passed by the site, had either the train been late or accident occurred a few minutes earlier the outcome could have been very different.
Crew:
F/O Ernest James Bull, pilot,
Sgt Norman James Prime, pilot,
Sgt Timothy Kennedy, navigator,
Sgt Gordon Belec, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Spencer Otty, wireless operator,
Sgt Edwin Fuller Harris, air gunner.
Source: https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk
Probable cause:
Failure of the port engine in flight.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V off Saint Annes Head

Date & Time: May 3, 1943
Operator:
Registration:
Z9318
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
2382
YOM:
1941
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane suffered an engine failure in flight and was ditched into the sea off Saint Annes Head. All five crew members were rescued by the crew of HMS Fury after having spent 7,5 hours in their dinghy.
Crew:
F/O Maurice George Harrison, pilot,
Sgt Cleaver,
F/Sgt Pryde,
P/O Rees,
Sgt Smith.
Probable cause:
Engine failure in flight.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Loppington: 5 killed

Date & Time: May 3, 1943
Operator:
Registration:
EB405
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Whitchurch - Sleap
MSN:
2830
YOM:
1942
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
On approach to RAF Sleap, the airplane crashed in Loppington, 3 km northwest of the airbase. All five crew members were killed. The accident occurred after two missed approaches.
Crew:
Sgt Harry James Spiers, pilot,
Sgt Harold Leather, navigator,
Sgt John James Brown, bomb aimer,
Sgt James William Scott, wireless operator,
Sgt William Arthur Cadel, air gunner.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Ernes: 1 killed

Date & Time: Apr 18, 1943 at 0130 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BD534
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Bournemouth - Bournemouth
MSN:
2701
YOM:
1942
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Bournemouth-Hurn Airport at 2250LT on April 17 on an operation to a railway electric station located south of Médizon. It was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Ernes. The pilot was killed, the radio operator evaded and two other crew members became PoW.
Crew:
F/O Roger George Wallis, pilot, †
F/O Anthony Peter Fox Waddington, navigator,
P/O Phillip Whitnall, radio operator,
F/Sgt Edward Hughes, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.