Country
code

Herefordshire

Crash of a Cessna 421A Golden Eagle I in Shobdon: 3 killed

Date & Time: Aug 3, 1997 at 1521 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
G-BKNA
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Elstree - Shobdon
MSN:
421A-0097
YOM:
1968
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Captain / Total flying hours:
2386
Circumstances:
The aircraft was on a private flight from Elstree to Shobdon in Herefordshire. The meteorological forecast indicated that a warm front was approaching Southern England from the south-west and conditions were generally deteriorating. The visibility on departure from Elstree at 1437 hrs was greater than 10 km with a broken cloud base at 2,500 feet. When the aircraft arrived at Shobdon the visibility was estimated to be 3 to 4 km in light drizzle with a cloud base at approximately 1,200 feet, and the surface wind was 090_/5 kt. The first radio contact between the aircraft and Shobdon was made at about 1502 hrs when the pilot called to say that he was inbound from Elstree. In response to this call he was passed the airfield details. The pilot later called when approaching Leominster and subsequently called downwind for Runway 09 which has a right-hand circuit. The operator of the ground to air radio facility at Shobdon saw the aircraft on the downwind leg abeam the tower at what appeared to be a normal circuit height. He did not observe the aircraft downwind but shortly afterward she heard a brief and indecipherable radio transmission which sounded like a scream. This same transmission was heard by an aircraft enthusiast who was monitoring the radio transmissions on his 'airband' radio. The radio operator repeatedly attempted to make contact with the aircraft but to no avail and so he instructed an aircraft refueller to inform the emergency services that an aircraft had crashed. Analysis of recorded radar data from the radar head at Clee Hill,Shropshire, indicates that the aircraft joined the downwind leg from the east at a height of 1,100 feet. This radar data shows that the aircraft then followed a normal ground track until towards the end of the downwind leg when there was an alteration of track to the left of about 20_ before the aircraft entered a right turn onto the base leg. At the same time as the aircraft altered track to the left it began a slow descent, at about 350 ft/min, from 1,100 feet to 600 feet, at which stage it disappeared below radar coverage. The average ground speed on the downwind leg was 112kt and this reduced to 100 kt as the aircraft descended. Two witnesses saw the aircraft in a position that equates to the base leg. The witness to the east of the aircraft track first heard the sound of an aircraft engine that was unusually loud and then saw the aircraft at an estimated height of 150 to 200 feet, it was descending slowly with the wings level. A loud "cough"from one of the engines was heard "as if it had backfired"followed by a puff of white smoke and then the sound of an engine increasing in RPM. The wings were then seen to rock from side to side as the aircraft went out of sight. The second witness,to the west of the aircraft track, described the aircraft flying very low, between 50 and 100 feet, and slowly descending. He saw that the wings were "wavering", the left wing then suddenly dropped until it achieved a bank angle of about 90_ at which stage the nose dropped and the aircraft disappeared behind some low trees and was heard to hit the ground. Some local farmers immediately went to the crash site. Initially there was no fire or smoke, but a small fire soon developed in the area of the right wing and this was quickly extinguished by the farmers.
Probable cause:
Examination of the engines showed that they had both been mechanically and electrically capable of running, however, at impact the left engine was stationary. It was also likely that there was very little fuel onboard the aircraft at the time of the accident. It is therefore probable that mismanagement of the fuel system caused the left engine to stop. The eye witness accounts are consistent with the behaviour of a twin engine aircraft that has suffered a failure of one engine and is flown below its minimum control speed for flight on one engine. With a low power setting on the right (live) engine the speed was allowed to reduce further until the left wing stalled. There was then insufficient height available to regain control of the aircraft
Final Report:

Crash of an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford I in Pontshill

Date & Time: Jul 9, 1953
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PH132
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While conducting a training sortie and flying at low height, the twin engine aircraft hit high tension cables and crash landed in a field. Both occupants were unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford in Hay-on-Wye: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jan 7, 1946
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PH242
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
While cruising at an altitude of 2,000 feet in poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of a hill and crashed. A crew member was killed while both other occupants were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. Prior to departure, the crew was instructed to fly above the minimum safe altitude of 2,500 feet but was flying below for unknown reason.
Crew (21st AFU):
W/O E. G. S. Monk, pilot,
F/O Arthur Hopewell, instructor,
F/Sgt Gordon Robinson, wireless operator. †

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Welsh Bicknor: 11 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942
Operator:
Registration:
V9977
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Defford - Defford
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The aircraft was involved in a test flight on behalf of the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) of the Royal Air Force and left RAF Defford in the day with a crew of five and six engineers on board. En route, the engine number four caught fire. The captain attempted an emergency landing when at an altitude of 500 feet, a portion of the right wing broke away. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in a field at a speed of 150 mp/h and was destroyed. All 11 occupants were killed, among them the famous British engineer Alan Blumlein. His death was officially announced three years later as the mission was highly secret: test and development of the H2S airborne radar system.
Crew:
P/O D. J. D.Berrington, pilot,
F/O A. M. Phillips, pilot,
F/Sgt G. Millar, observer,
LAC B. D. C. Dear, flight engineer,
AC2 B. C. F. Bicknell, wireless operator and air gunner.
Passengers:
S/L R. J. Sansom, attached to TRE,
P/O C. E. Vincent, attached to TRE,
Mr. G. S. Hensby, engineer by TRE,
Mr. A. D. Blumlein, engineer by EMI,
Mr. C. O. Browne, engineer by EMI,
Mr. F. Blythen, engineer by EMI.
Probable cause:
After the RAF investigative board completed its report on the Halifax crash on 1 July 1942, it was distributed to a restricted list of approved recipients, but not publicly divulged. In the interests of wartime secrecy, the announcement of Blumlein's death was not made for another three years. The investigative board, headed by AIB Chief Inspector Vernon Brown (who later also investigated the postwar Star Tiger and Star Ariel disappearances) found that the Halifax bomber crash was caused by engine fire, attributed to the unscrewing of a tappet nut on the starboard outer engine, which had been improperly tightened by a RAF engine fitter while inspecting the engine some three hours prior to the crash. The loosened nut caused excessive valve clearance and a fracture of the valve stem which resulted pumping ignited fuel outboard of the rocker cover and along the outside of the engine, causing a fire in the engine nacelle. Constantly fueled by the broken intake, the fire burned rapidly along the wing and fuselage, eventually causing a large section of the wing to separate from the fuselage at approximately 350 feet of altitude. With the loss of all control over level flight, the rest of the plane rolled inverted and struck the ground at approximately 150 mph.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC at RAF Madley

Date & Time: Aug 19, 1941
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
R1761
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Madley - Madley
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a local training exercise out from RAF Madley. After landing, when the pilot realized he was likely to run into a gang of workmen, he opened up the throttles and tried to go around again. In doing so the Wellington failed to gain height and crashed into trees, just beyond the runway. There were no injuries.
Crew:
F/O Morawski +5.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Leominster

Date & Time: May 4, 1941 at 0630 LT
Operator:
Registration:
Z6483
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Middleton St George - Middleton St George
MSN:
1995
YOM:
1941
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Middleton St George at 2045LT on May 3 on an operation to Cologne. The following morning, while returning to base, the crew encountered technical problems with the wireless system. As the airplane ran out of fuel, all five crew members bailed out and abandoned the airplane that dove into the ground and crashed in Leominster. All five occupants were uninjured.
Crew:
Sgt L. Hatcher,
Sgt Chandos,
Sgt H. B. Buttell,
Sgt T. K. Moodie,
Sgt T. Hall.
Probable cause:
Technical problems with the wireless system and fuel exhaustion.