Date & Time:
Jul 16, 1943 at 1150 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 408 Wellington IA
Operator:
Registration:
JA119
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Skipton-on-Swale - Skipton-on-Swale
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Skipton-on-Swale at 1115LT on a post maintenance test flight. About 35 minutes into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 12,000 feet over Malton, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent. At a height of about 4,000 feet, it exploded in midair and disintegrated before crashing in an open field located 3 km west of Malton. All six crew members were killed.
Crew (432 Sq):
F/O James Elmer Morris, pilot,
F/Sgt Gordon Brydon Nesbitt, navigator,
F/Sgt Joseph William Campbell, bomb aimer,
Sgt Harold Victor Baldwin, wireless operator,
Lac Thomas Melville Kearns,
F/Sgt Vernon Francis Rector, air gunner.
Crew (432 Sq):
F/O James Elmer Morris, pilot,
F/Sgt Gordon Brydon Nesbitt, navigator,
F/Sgt Joseph William Campbell, bomb aimer,
Sgt Harold Victor Baldwin, wireless operator,
Lac Thomas Melville Kearns,
F/Sgt Vernon Francis Rector, air gunner.
