ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 202373
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| Date: | Wednesday 3 December 1930 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Desoutter Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | private |
| Registration: | G-ABCU |
| MSN: | D.32 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | off Belmonte Calabro -
 Italy
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR) |
| South Africa | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no. D.32: Desoutter Mk.II registered as G-ABCU [C of R 2729] 7.30 to [unknown; probably The Desoutter Aircraft Co Ltd]. Registered [C of R 2839] 24.9.30 to Miss Winifred Evelyn Spooner, Wokingham, Berkshire (aircraft based at Croydon). C of A 2765 issued 2.10.30
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 3.12.30 when crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea, 2 miles off Belmonte Calabro, province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. Both persons on board - Miss Winifred Spooner and Pilot Officer Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards - survived. The following is an extract from the biography of Edward Cecil Theodore Edwards (1905-1940)(see link #7)
"On April 30th 1928" [Edward Cecil Edwards] "was granted a permanent commission with the rank of Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force General Duties Branch. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on December 1st 1932.
On December 5th 1930, with Winifred Spooner, he set out to prove that South Africa could be reached within 5 days by flying day and night. Unfortunately, after 16 hours, whilst he was flying the aircraft and while Winifred was asleep, the plane crashed into the sea off the coast of Belmonte Calabro in complete darkness. He could not give a reason for the plane steadily losing height without his knowledge. He could not swim and Winifred left him sitting on the wooden fuselage and swam ashore "6 strokes at a time". She then alerted local fishermen, who rescued him and the plane (Desoutter G-ABCU)" [Winifred Spooner died of pneumonia in 1933 aged 32.]
According to a contemporary report in "Flight" Magazine:
"Winifred Spooner, her own, privately owned, Desoutter II monoplane, G-ABCU, of which she took delivery in October 1930. After a non-stop flight from Croydon to Rome on December 3" [1930] "the machine was unfortunately lost in the sea, salvaged and ceremonially burned at Heston in May 1931."
Wreckage salvaged and initially stored at Naples Aero Club; shipped back to Heston but not repaired. Remains burned May 1931. Registration G-ABCU cancelled by the Air Ministry 7.3.32 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. https://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-ab
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ABCU.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A2.htmll
4. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1969/1969%20-%203051.PDF
5. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/Dec30.html
7. https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/fallen-alumni/flight-lieutenant-edward-cecil-theodore-edwards
9. https://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pioneering-women?filter_tag[0]=24
10. https://www.earlyaviators.com/espoone5.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Nov-2017 20:18 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 30-Nov-2017 20:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2017 20:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 17-Nov-2022 21:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 18-May-2023 18:19 | TB | Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative, Category]] |
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