Date & Time:
Dec 17, 1942 at 0300 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
W4359
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Predannack - Predannack
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Predannack on a night training exercise. While flying in the vicinity of the airfield, it caught fire and crashed in an open field 8 km northeast of the airbase. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Thomas Irvine Manson, pilot,
Sgt William Henry Taylor, flight engineer,
F/O Francis George Shell, observer,
Sgt John Oswald Irving, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Ewen Cameron McPhee, wireless operator,
Sgt Herbert Munro Sims, air gunner,
Sgt Robert Sidney Doore, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Thomas Irvine Manson, pilot,
Sgt William Henry Taylor, flight engineer,
F/O Francis George Shell, observer,
Sgt John Oswald Irving, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Ewen Cameron McPhee, wireless operator,
Sgt Herbert Munro Sims, air gunner,
Sgt Robert Sidney Doore, air gunner.
Probable cause:
It is believed that the bomber was struck by lightning, causing the photo flash flare to ignite.
