ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 231360
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| Date: | Sunday 23 May 1948 |
| Time: | 16:00 LT |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Cinque Ports Flying Club |
| Registration: | G-AINU |
| MSN: | 82330 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Duke of Kent Pub, A299 Thanet Way, Faversham, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent (EGMK) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 82330 (Gipsy Major #82066): Taken on charge by the RAF as N9213 at 6 MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 16.9.39. To 224 Squadron 8.11.39 and operated by 2 Coastal Patrol Flight, RAF Abbotsinch. To Torpedo Training Unit, RAF Abbotsinch [prior to 31.12.41]. To 5 [Coastal] OTU, RAF Turnberry 26.11.42. Unit merged into 1 Torpedo Training Unit, Turnberry 1.1.43. To 2 Torpedo Training Unit, Castle Kennedy 10.2.43. To RAF Blake Hill Farm, Essex 10.11.44. Damaged in crash 22.12.44; probably to 38 MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan and repaired. Struck off charge when sold 13.5.46 to Royal Aero Club, London
First registered (C of R 10840/1) on 8.10.46 to Hunting Flying Club Ltd., Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire. C of A 8583 issued 2.11.46. Note that the aircraft's record card gives its former RAF serial as its MSN in lieu of the actual De Havilland MSN 82230. Damaged in gales when parked at Luton Airport 4-7.4.47; repaired and returned to service. Registration cancelled/lapsed upon sale 24.9.47.
Re-registered (C of R 10840/2) on 1.10.47 to Cinque Ports Flying Club Ltd., Lympne Airport, Kent. Damaged when undercarriage collapsed on landing Lympne, Kent 21.4.48; repaired and returned to service
Written off (destroyed) on 23.5.48; Tiger Moth (G-AINU) belonging to the Cinque Ports Flying Club Ltd struck power cables across the A299 near Faversham and crashed, killing the two occupants. The aircraft had taken off from Lympne at 15.40 hrs on a private flight - at the controls was a Mr. P. K. French, holder of a valid "A" License no. 25969. He had logged 77 hours (almost all in Tiger Moth's) of which 30 had been dual instruction. Various reports had been made to Cinque Ports Flying Club that Mr. French was inclined to fly unnecessarily low, and after an incident on the 9th May he had been warned against this practice by a Club official.
Mr. French had expressed his intention of flying over his home area between Faversham and Sittingbourne and Mr. L. R. Chaplin, a fellow Club member, had been invited to fly with him as passenger. About 15 minutes after take-off the Tiger Moth was seen flying just above tree-top height in a westerly direction, parallel and slightly to the right of the Canterbury to Faversham (A2) road. Its flight at this height was witnessed for about three miles, and it was then observed to turn to the right and to fly northwards as if to proceed along the coastal (A299) road. It roared over a car travelling north-eastwards along this road and almost immediately it was seen to strike the topmost of three seven-stranded galvanised steel electric cables which traversed the road at a height of about 25 feet.
The cable caught the undercarriage and the aircraft struck the ground violently in a vertical nose-down attitude 40 yards beyond the line of the cables. It burst into flames as it bounced and slid on its back, tail first, for a further 45 yards along the road.
Examination of the wreckage showed that the control column had been removed from the passenger's cockpit before the flight, as per regulations. All control cables were intact, and there was no evidence to suggest failure of airframe or engine before the accident. The official report concluded that the crash should be attributed to bad airmanship on the part of the pilot who, in disregard of flying regulations, flew the Tiger Moth intentionally at an unnecessarily low altitude.
According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald" - Saturday 29 May 1948):
"Plane Hits Cable and Crashes.
PILOT AND PASSENGER KILLED.
A two-seater Tiger Moth plane, which was being driven by Mr. Percy Kenneth French, of Batteries Farm, Lynsted, who was accompanied by Mr. L. R. Chaplin, of Oakdene, Faversham Road, Kennington, near Ashford, as passenger, was trying to force land on the road near the Duke of Kent, Thanet Way, on Sunday afternoon, when it hit a 26 feet high cable, dived into the kerb and somersaulted twice. It then caught fire a few yards in front of a car. The blazing petrol ran towards it and the driver raced the flames in reverse. Two cricket teams who had stopped at the Duke of Kent for tea formed a bucket chain to the wreck, but it was burnt out in a few minutes and the occupants were killed".
Sources:
1. Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald - Saturday 29 May 1948
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 217/2181: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576335
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p823.html
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AINU.pdf
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=699.0
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
7. https://checkmypostcode.uk/me139el#.YTA_TJ1KiUk
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A299_road
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Dec-2019 20:19 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-Feb-2020 20:23 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 12-Aug-2021 06:43 | Antonio | Updated [Cn] |
| 02-Sep-2021 03:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Category] |
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