![]() A Handley Page W.8, similar to the accident aircraft | |
Accident | |
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Date | 17 June 1929 |
Summary | Engine failure, ditching at sea |
Site | English Channel, off Dungeness 50°45′00″N1°07′0″E / 50.75000°N 1.11667°E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Handley Page W.10 |
Aircraft name | City of Ottawa |
Operator | Imperial Airways |
Registration | G-EBMT |
Flight origin | Croydon Airport, United Kingdom |
1st stopover | Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France |
2nd stopover | Basle Airport, Switzerland |
Destination | Zurich Airport, Switzerland |
Passengers | 11 |
Crew | 2 |
Fatalities | 7 |
Injuries | 6 |
Survivors | 6 |
The 1929 Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 crash happened on 17 June 1929 when Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT suffered an engine failure and subsequently ditched in the English Channel off Dungeness with the loss of seven lives. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled flight from Croydon to Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France.
The accident aircraft was Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT City of Ottawa, c/n W10-4. It had been delivered to Imperial Airways on 25 December 1925. [1]
G-EBMT was operating an international scheduled flight from Croydon Airport to Zurich Airport, Switzerland [2] via Paris - Le Bourget Airport and Basel Airport, Switzerland. [3] Having departed from Croydon at 10:30, [4] the aircraft was some 15 miles (24 km) out over the English Channel, [5] flying at an altitude of 2,500 feet (760 m), [4] when a connecting rod in the starboard engine broke. A mayday was broadcast by radio and the pilot attempted to divert to Lympne Airport. As he was unable to reach land, the pilot landed in the sea some 50 yd (46 m) from the Belgian trawler Gaby, and 12 miles (19 km) offshore. [5]
The nose of the aircraft dived into the water on landing. The passengers at the front of the aircraft were thrown from their seats and trapped. Four passengers seated at the tail of the aircraft escaped, as did both crew. Gaby went to the aid of the stricken airliner and rescued the six survivors. The body of one of the victims was also recovered. They were transferred to the Dover pilot cutter which took them to Folkestone. The cutter entered Folkestone harbour at 2:45 pm flying the signal EDY, signifying that ambulances were required, and with her red ensign at half-mast. The injured survivors were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Folkestone. The body of the casualty was landed at Folkestone, [3] but was later transferred to Lydd. [5] Gaby recovered three further bodies that day. [3] They were transferred to a motorboat owned by the Lydd postmaster and taken to a mortuary at Lydd. [4] Gaby assisted in the salvage of the wreckage of G-EBMT. [6] The wreckage was towed to Dungeness, where a search revealed only baggage and personal belongings of the passengers. Three victims were unaccounted for at that stage. [5]
An inquest was opened by the Lydd Coroner on 19 June at Lydd Town Hall into the deaths of the four victims whose bodies had been recovered. Evidence was given that the pilot, Captain Brailli [7] was experienced, with 1,000 hours flying time. He had been in the employ of Imperial Airways for a year. The aircraft was shown to have been airworthy on departure from Croydon. [4] The pilot had been the last survivor to leave the aircraft, at his insistence. [3] All four victims had drowned. Verdicts of "accidental death" were returned in all cases. [4]
The Air Ministry opened an investigation into the accident under the Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1922. [5] The investigation opened on 25 June at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, with Sir Arthur Colefax in charge. The cause of the engine failure was the fracture of No. 4 connecting rod in the starboard engine. The engine had run for 126 hours since its last overhaul, with the permitted time between overhauls being 300 hours. The connecting rod had failed due to the failure of the big end bearing studs. [8]
The aircraft's Certificate of Airworthiness had last been renewed in November 1928 and was valid for a year. Its maximum permissible load was 2,946 pounds (1,336 kg); the aircraft's load was 2,494 pounds (1,131 kg) on departure from Croydon. Evidence was given by three of the four surviving passengers and both crew. The fourth surviving passenger was not called as she was legally a minor at the time and had lost her father in the accident. [8] The inquiry closed on 3 July. [9] Imperial Airways and Napier, the engine manufacturer, were cleared of any blame for the accident. [10] The report into the investigation was published on 12 July. Among the recommendations were that passengers should be provided with seatbelts and that aircraft not capable of maintaining level flight with an inoperative engine and not designed to land on water should be withdrawn from continental routes after 1 July 1930. [11]
The nationalities of the casualties were - [3] [5]
Nationality | Crew | Passengers | Killed | Injured |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
American | – | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Australian | – | 1 | 1 | – |
Canadian | – | 1 | 1 | – |
French | – | 1 | 1 | – |
Total | 2 | 11 | 7 | 6 |
Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers were typically businessmen or colonial administrators, and most flights carried about 20 passengers or fewer. Accidents were frequent: in the first six years, 32 people died in seven incidents. Imperial Airways never achieved the levels of technological innovation of its competitors and was merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1939. BOAC in turn merged with the British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 to form British Airways.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1929:
The Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45 were four-engine biplane airliners designed and manufactured by British aviation company Handley Page, based in Radlett, Hertfordshire. It held the distinction of being the largest airliner in regular use in the world upon the type's introduction in 1931.
London Ashford Airport is 1 NM east of the town of Lydd and 12 NM south of Ashford in the district of Folkestone and Hythe, in Kent, England. Originally named Lydd Ferryfield, it is now also known as London Ashford Airport, despite being 60 mi (97 km) from London and actually closer to France. The airport is operated by London Ashford Airport Ltd, controlled by Saudi businessman Sheikh Fahad al-Athel.
The Handley Page W.8, W.9 and W.10 were British two- and three-engine medium-range biplane airliners designed and built by Handley Page.
The de Havilland DH.34 was a single engined British biplane airliner built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company in the 1920s. 12 were built, with the DH.34 serving with Imperial Airways and its predecessors for several years.
Daimler Airway was an airline subsidiary of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA)'s Daimler Company. It was created to use some of the assets of the failed ventures Airco and its subsidiary, Aircraft Transport and Travel, which was acquired by BSA in February 1920.
Air Union was a French airline established January 1, 1923, as the result of a merger between the airlines Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes and Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens. Air Union was merged with four other French airlines to become Air France on 7 October 1933.
Lympne Airport, was a military and later civil airfield, at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returning from, France but was later designated as a First Class Landing Ground, RAF Lympne. It became a civil airfield in 1919 and saw the operation of early air mail services after the 1918 armistice. It was one of the first four airfields in the United Kingdom with customs facilities.
The August 1926 Air Union Blériot 155 crash happened on 18 August 1926 at Hurst, Kent when Blériot 155 F-AIEB of Air Union hit a barn and crashed whilst attempting to make a forced landing in bad weather. Two passengers were killed in the accident, and the pilot died a day later.
The 1934 Hillman's Airways de Havilland Dragon Rapide crash occurred on 2 October 1934 when a de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide of Hillman's Airways crashed into the English Channel off Folkestone, Kent, killing all seven people on board. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Abridge Aerodrome to Le Bourget Airport, Paris. The accident resulted in the first write-off of a Dragon Rapide.
The 1954 Swissair Convair CV-240 crash occurred on 19 June 1954 when a Swissair Convair CV-240 ditched in the English Channel off Folkestone, Kent, having run out of fuel. Although all on board survived the ditching of the aircraft, three people drowned, as they could not swim and there were no lifejackets carried on board the aircraft. At the time of the accident, these were not required to be carried on flights where the time over water was less than 30 minutes flying time.
The Meopham Air Disaster occurred on 21 July 1930 when a Junkers F.13ge flying from Le Touquet to Croydon with two crew and four passengers crashed near Meopham, Kent with the loss of all on board. The report of the inquiry into the accident was made public, the first time in the United Kingdom that an accident report was published.
The 1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede crash occurred on 30 December 1933 when an Imperial Airways Avro Ten collided with one of the radio masts of Belradio at Ruysselede, West Flanders, Belgium and crashed killing all ten people on board. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Cologne, Germany to London, England via Brussels, Belgium.
The 1929 Luft Hansa Junkers G.24 crash occurred on 6 November 1929 when a Junkers G 24 of Luft Hansa crashed at Godstone, Surrey, United Kingdom while on an international scheduled flight from Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom to Amsterdam-Schiphol Municipal Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Of the eight people on board, Glen Kidston was the only survivor.
The 1928 Imperial Airways Vickers Vulcan crash occurred on 13 July 1928 when a Vickers Vulcan on a test flight from Croydon Airport with a pilot and five passengers crashed near Purley, Surrey three miles from the airport, with the loss of four passengers. As a result of the crash Imperial Airways stopped the flying of staff on test flights.
The 1923 Daimler Airway de Havilland DH.34 crash occurred on 14 September 1923 when a de Havilland DH.34 of Daimler Airway operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Croydon to Manchester crashed at Ivinghoe, Buckinghamshire, England, killing all five people on board.
The 1924 Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.34 crash occurred on 24 December 1924 when de Havilland DH.34 G-EBBX of Imperial Airways crashed at Purley, Surrey, United Kingdom killing all eight people on board. The aircraft was operating a scheduled international flight from Croydon, Surrey, to Paris, France. It was the first fatal accident suffered by Imperial Airways and led to the first public inquiry into a civil aviation accident in the United Kingdom. As a result of issues brought up during the inquiry, Croydon Airport was expanded, absorbing most of Beddington Aerodrome.
The 1958 Channel Airways de Havilland DH.104 Dove crash occurred on 15 January 1958, when a de Havilland DH.104 Dove of Channel Airways crashed on approach to Ferryfield Airport, Lydd, Kent due to mismanagement of the aircraft's fuel system by the pilot. All seven people on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.