Crash of a Douglas DB-7B Boston III in Shottermill: 3 killed
Date & Time:
Sep 22, 1942 at 1755 LT
Operator:
Registration:
AL470
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Tangmere - Ford
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The twin engine airplane departed RAF Tangmere at 1740LT on a test flight to RAF Ford with a crew of three on board. About 15 minutes into the flight, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed nearby the Rex Cinema in Shottermill, bursting into flames. All three crew members were killed. There were no injuries on the ground.
Crew:
F/O William Michael Esdaile Winter, pilot,
F/Sgt Wilfred Ernest Cleall, observer,
P/O John Horace Lindley, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O William Michael Esdaile Winter, pilot,
F/Sgt Wilfred Ernest Cleall, observer,
P/O John Horace Lindley, air gunner.
Probable cause:
The sequence of events as postulated from the evidence was that the aircraft was being looped, and the starboard engine had detached while the Boston was under high stress recovering from the dive out of the loop. This induced a violent and quick nose-up change in attitude, the upload causing the starboard main plane to break away, followed by disintegration of the whole aircraft.
