Date:	Sunday 6 April 1969
Time:	day
Type:	Miles M.65 Gemini 1A
Owner/operator:	Edmund Charles Brace (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-AJZO
MSN:	6446
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Minnis Bay Sands, near Birchington, Thanet, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Ramsgate Airport, Ramsgate, Kent (X2RT)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Miles M.65 Gemini Mk.1A: First civil registered (C of R 11728/1; C of A 9630) 30-7-47 as G-AJZO to Whitbread & Co Ltd., Chiswell Street, London EC1. Sold on and re-registered four times between July 1947 and July 1964, as follows:

30-7-47: First registered (C of R 11728/1; C of A 9630) to Whitbread & Co Ltd., London EC1
14-4-57: Badly damaged when it ran into a ditch on landing at a farm at Farleaze near Norton, Gloucestershire.
04-6-59: Registration cancelled/lapsed upon sale
11-6-59: Re-registered (new C of R R.1693/2; new C of A A.1693) to Air Couriers (Transport) Ltd., Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey
17-6-59: Re-registered (C of R R.1693/3) to F & D M Hewitt Ltd., Cranleigh, Surrey
09-7-64: Registration cancelled/lapsed upon sale
16-7-64: Re-registered (C of R R.1693/4) to Edmund Charles Brace, Westgate on Sea, Kent
02-9-65: Slightly damaged in a landing accident at Manston, Kent. repaired and returned to service
06-4-69: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when force landed on Minnis Bay Sands, near Birchington, Thanet, Kent. No fatalities or casualties reported.

A contemporary newspaper report gives an account of the incident ("Daily Mirror - Monday 7 April 1969)

"A crash pilot wins his race against the tide
HOTEL KEEPER Edward Brace escaped unhurt yesterday when his twin-engine Gemini plane crash-landed on a beach crowded with Easter holidaymakers. Then local yachtsmen helped him to save the plane from the tide.

Mr. Brace, who runs a hotel at Birchington, near Margate, Kent, had to make the emergency landing when one engine of the plane spluttered out during a pleasure flight from Ramsgate Airport. But he wasn't far from Minnis Bay Sands, near Birchington.

He said last night: "My landing was all right until the undercarriage struck some rocks and collapsed."

Once down, Mr. Brace faced a new problem - the rapidly incoming tide. But members of the Minnis Bay Yacht Club quickly came to the rescue. They lifted the plane on to three yacht trailers and towed it to the promenade.

Stockbroker Don McIntosh, the club's vice-commodore, said: "The water was only five yards away when we got the plane to safety."

The aircraft's registration was belatedly cancelled by the CAA on 26-10-73 as "destroyed". (It is presumed that the above incident was the final flight of Gemini G-AJZO, and the cancellation of the registration was merely part of a periodic "catch up/tidy up" of the UK civil aircraft register). It is also worth noting that the final flight of the aircraft was - technically, at least - illegal, as the C of A had expired on 1-1-69.

1. Daily Mirror - Monday 7 April 1969
2. Thanet Times - Tuesday 3 June 1969
3. Kites, Birds & Stuff - MILES Aircraft. p.75 By P.D. Stemp
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJZO-1.pdf
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJZO-2.pdf
6. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-AJZO
7. https://blackbusheairport.proboards.com/thread/679/miles-gemini
8. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1993.pdf
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1995.pdf
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birchington-on-Sea
11. https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/south-east-england/kent/minnis-bay-map.htm

Miles Gemini G-AJZO at Ramsgate Airport 6 April 1968 outside the main hangar - note the Air Kruise logo. The aircraft was owned by Ted Brace, president of Thanet Flying Club.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Mar-2020 23:21	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Mar-2020 23:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
23-Sep-2022 00:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Category]
23-Sep-2022 00:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
23-Sep-2022 17:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]