Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Żejtun: 17 killed
Date & Time:
Dec 17, 1942 at 0230 LT
Operator:
Registration:
DT542
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Cairo - Luqa - Gibraltar
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
12
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
17
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Cairo on a transit flight to UK with intermediate stops in Luqa and Gibraltar. Following a night takeoff from Luqa Airfield, while climbing, the crew encountered engine problems. The pilot elected to return for an emergency landing when the airplane went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion in Żejtun, some 5 km east of the airbase. The airplane was destroyed and all 17 occupants were killed.
Crew:
S/L Jefferson Heywood Wedgwood, pilot,
F/O Krzysztof L. Dobromirski, pilot,
Sgt Alexander Clubb Watt, flight engineer,
F/Lt Peter Earlem, observer,
F/Lt Leonard Arthur Vaughan, air gunner.
Passengers:
Cpl Douglas Sidney Hounslow,
Ac1 Stanley Edward Kelly,
Sgt Dennis Spibey,
Maj Allen Algernon Bathurst,
Lac Cyril Dennis Browne,
Lac Richard Clegg,
F/O Zbigniew A. Idzikowski,
F/Sgt Alfred E. Kleniewski,
Maj Arthur David Curtis Millar,
F/O Stanisław Pankiewicz,
Sgt Roman Wysocki,
F/O Oskar F. Zielinski.
Crew:
S/L Jefferson Heywood Wedgwood, pilot,
F/O Krzysztof L. Dobromirski, pilot,
Sgt Alexander Clubb Watt, flight engineer,
F/Lt Peter Earlem, observer,
F/Lt Leonard Arthur Vaughan, air gunner.
Passengers:
Cpl Douglas Sidney Hounslow,
Ac1 Stanley Edward Kelly,
Sgt Dennis Spibey,
Maj Allen Algernon Bathurst,
Lac Cyril Dennis Browne,
Lac Richard Clegg,
F/O Zbigniew A. Idzikowski,
F/Sgt Alfred E. Kleniewski,
Maj Arthur David Curtis Millar,
F/O Stanisław Pankiewicz,
Sgt Roman Wysocki,
F/O Oskar F. Zielinski.
Probable cause:
Engine failure after takeoff.
