Date & Time: Jun 2, 1943 at 1415 LT
Type of aircraft:
Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley
Operator:
Registration:
Z6639
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Honeybourne - Honeybourne
MSN:
2073
YOM:
1941
Location:
Honeybourne
Worcestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
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.