ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 208150
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| Date: | Saturday 11 February 1939 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Hawker Audax Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 19 E&RFTS RAF |
| Registration: | K7459 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Gatwick Airport, Lowfield Heath, Horley, Surrey |
| RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Hawker Audax Mk.I K7459, 19 E&RFTS, Gatwick: Written off (destroyed) 11/2/39 when crashed onto a house in fog at Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex. The pilot of the Hawker Audax (flying solo) was killed, along with a woman and two young children in the house:
Sgt William Edward Brun (pilot, aged 22, flying solo) killed (in aircraft)
Mrs Dorothy Baigent (aged 28) killed (in house)
Audrey May Baigent (aged 3) killed (in house)
Gwendoline Grace Baigent (aged 2) killed (in house)
According to the official Air Ministry announcement in "Flight" magazine (February 23, 1939 page 186 - see link #4)
"FLYING ACCIDENTS
Sgt. William Edward Brun (flying solo) and Mrs. Baigent and her two children lost their lives when an aircraft of No. 19 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School, Gatwick, struck a private house at Brighton on February 12."
According to an article in the "Brighton Argus" (August 8 2011, see link #3):
"The weather closed in during the afternoon, and it was extremely foggy when people in the area heard the sound of a plane flying far too low. It was a Hawker Audax, being flown by 22-year-old Billy Brun from Gatwick airport to Tangmere. He was lost and hopelessly off course, flying low to try and identify any local landmarks.
The plane struck a greenhouse and crashed into the Baigents’ flat in Freshfield Road, immediately bursting into flames. The pilot and occupants stood no chance and everyone perished. The fire brigade were very quickly on the scene but they were beaten back by the intense heat.
After the fire was extinguished, it was found that the plane's engine was embedded in the kitchen wall. It had been torn from its mountings through the force of the crash. The crash evoked an immense wave of sympathy throughout the whole of Brighton and a large crowd gathered as the funeral was held at the Meeting House of the Plymouth Brethren Church in Gloucester Street six days later.
Mr Rowland says: “People were crying as the two small white coffins of the children were taken inside the church. As the funerals started, an aircraft flew overhead in salute. The whole route to the cemetery was lined by thousands of people anxious to pay their respects.Due to the huge crowd, police diverted the funeral up Elm Grove instead of using the normal route along Lewes Road.” Police estimated the crowd at well over 6,000 and cemetery officials had to close the gates.
On February 18, pilot Billy Brun was buried in a cemetery at Wallington in Surrey which was a quieter ceremony but no less sad.
At the Brighton inquest, Leslie Strong, who lived in the same house as the Baigents, identified their bodies.
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Bennett said Brun had flown almost 51 hours solo and was counted as an experienced pilot. The speed of the plane on impact was 180 feet per second and no one stood a chance of surviving it. Mr Rowland says: “It is hard to imagine an experienced pilot being so far off his course. The cause of the accident was dense fog and bad visibility. The coroner recorded the only possible verdict in the circumstances, which was accidental death."
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain 1976 page 61)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
3. http://www.theargus.co.uk/magazine/nostalgia/pastpresent/9172714.Tragedy_strikes/_/
4. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1939/1939%20-%200510.PDF
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?4666-F-Sgt-Will-Edwards-Brun
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Mar-2018 19:17 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 24-Mar-2018 19:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 31-Mar-2018 20:03 | harro | Updated [Source] |
| 20-Nov-2018 16:19 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator] |
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