Crash of a Vickers 440 Wellington X in Middleton-on-the-Wolds: 6 killed
Date & Time:
Feb 26, 1943 at 1210 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HE161
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Driffield - Driffield
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Driffield on a local test flight. En route, the pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed 3 km east of Middleton-on-the-Wolds , exploding on impact. All six crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/O Neville Smart, pilot,
F/O Thomas Donald Gordon, navigator,
F/O Robert Lowell Benson, bomb aimer,
Sgt George Alexander Aitken Ranken, wireless operator,
Sgt Dennis Herbert, air gunner,
Lac Walter Robinson, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O Neville Smart, pilot,
F/O Thomas Donald Gordon, navigator,
F/O Robert Lowell Benson, bomb aimer,
Sgt George Alexander Aitken Ranken, wireless operator,
Sgt Dennis Herbert, air gunner,
Lac Walter Robinson, air gunner.
Probable cause:
The accident was attributed to the canvas bomb screen detaching and fouling the elevator control surfaces.
