Date:	Wednesday 9 November 1927
Time:	night
Type:	Bristol F.2b Fighter
Owner/operator:	RAE Farnborough
Registration:	C810
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	East Grinstead, East Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, Surrey (EGCR)
Destination airport:	Farnborough Airfield, Hampshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Bristol F.2b Fighter C810, RAE Farnborough: Written off (destroyed) 6/11/1927 when the crew baled out while lost, over East Grinstead, East Sussex. One of the crew of two was killed, the other unhurt:

F/O Campbell Mackenzie-Richards (pilot) RAF killed
Professor Harry Norman Green (Civilian Observer/Scientific Officer) unhurt

According to the Wikipedia entry on the death of F/O Mackenzie-Richards:

"MacKenzie-Richards was killed in a night flying accident at East Grinstead, Surrey on 9 November 1927. MacKenzie-Richards was engaged in testing night navigating devices at Croydon aerodrome, including two new illuminated wind vanes erected there experimentally.

On Wednesday, 9 November 1927, flying Bristol fighter C810, MacKenzie-Richards had finished his work at 5.30 pm and left Croydon with Professor Harry Norman Green, a pathologist and member of the faculty of medicine (and later the Department of Pharmacology) at the University of Sheffield, as his observer. They attempted to make their way back to Farnborough, but the compass was 30 degrees out when they left.

Failing to find Farnborough they attempted to return to Croydon. They flew back without seeing anything they recognised until they estimated they were over Croydon. They could not pick up any indication of Croydon nor could they see any lights. They spoke on the 'telephone' and MacKenzie-Richards suggested that they had better make a forced landing before they ran out of petrol – they only had about 20 minutes fuel remaining.

He came down low and asked Green to look for a field. Presently he said that he could not see a field that he could land in and he lit a flare. There was a certain amount of mist, but nothing exceptional. They just missed some trees and climbed back up to 2,000 feet. As Green had never used a parachute before, MacKenzie-Richards briefed him particularly about not pulling the ripcord until he was clear of the aircraft. Green questioned whether the aircraft could be rolled onto its back so that they could both get out, but MacKenzie-Richards refused, saying that Green should go.

At the inquest Green explained how he had one foot on the seat and one on the side waiting for the signal to jump. MacKenzie-Richards throttled the engine down and turned around, put his hand out and pushed Green. Green landed in a field and was perfectly alright. MacKenzie-Richards was found in another field, but there was no sign of life; his parachute was open.

The Coroner's conclusion was that by the time MacKenzie-Richards left the aircraft he was too close to the ground and that his parachute failed to fully deploy. At the inquest a Major Cooper informed the Court that the compasses were checked periodically on the ground, and that he was satisfied that this compass had been tested at certain periods.

He pointed out that this had been an experimental aircraft, which had certain experimental lights, and the evidence suggested that one of the pieces of wiring had an effect on the compass after the machine had left the ground. It was quite possible that the error in the compass only occurred when the current was generated.

The wreckage of the aircraft was found in a wood about two hundred yards from where his body was found."

MacKenzie-Richards was promoted posthumously to Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. After his death, his only child, Gillian Campbell MacKenzie-Richards, was born in Aldeburgh, in 1928. He is buried at the parish church of St. Andrew, Great Yeldham, near Braintree, Essex.

1. The Times London 14 November 1927
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1929.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_MacKenzie-Richards#Death_and_inquest
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17307-RAF-fatalities-1927
5. Flight magazine November 17, 1927 page 802: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1927/1927%20-%200886.html
6. http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/Result_Details.aspx?DocID=513067
7. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Hansard - Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, Vol. 210 (H.M. Stationery Office 1928)
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31568561/campbell-mackenzie-richards
9. https://family-tree.cobboldfht.com/people/view/497

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Jun-2018 20:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Jun-2018 20:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]