Date:	Monday 25 April 1938
Time:	21:30 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.84 Dragon
Owner/operator:	Wrightways Ltd
Registration:	G-ACHX
MSN:	6036
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Rose Walk, Woodcote Lane, 1 mile South West of Purley, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)
Destination airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
c/no 6036 (Gipsy Major #5255/5256): Registered G-ACHX [C of R 4396] 7.7.33 to Richard Verney Wrightson, London SW.1 and jointly owned with Peter G Masefield for proposed South Africa flight; named “Lucretius”. Plans for long-distance flight to Cape Town not proceeded with following Amy and Jim Mollison's transatlantic flight and aircraft transferred to Wrightson & Pearce, Heston. C of A 3975 issued 11.7.33.

Damaged in fatal crash on take-off Armthorpe Aerodrome, Doncaster 15.9.33; pilot George A Pennington killed, aircraft repaired and C of A renewed 29.11.33. Transferred/sold to Wrightways Ltd 17.12.34; re-registered [C of R 6034] 3.7.35 to Wrightways Ltd, Croydon.

Written off 25.4.1938: Shortly after takeoff from Croydon Airport, while on an army co-operation (anti-aircraft/searchlight training) flight, the twin engine aircraft stalled, collided with trees, and crashed in a field in Rose Walk, Woodcote Lane, one mile south west of Purley, Surrey. Both crewmen were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed. Crew were Flying Officer Colin Calder Byar (aged 33) died 30.4.38 (RAFO, New Zealander) and Mr. Ernest Ratcliffe injured (wireless operator, and also a New Zealander).

An examination of the wreckage disclosed the fact that both fuel cocks had been turned off, but that there had been ample fuel on board at the time of the accident. The fuel cocks on the D.H. Dragon cannot be turned off by accident, nor can they be reached quickly, and the machine had been flying for two-and-a-half hours.

According to a published report (see link #8):

"Monday, Anzac Day 1938
England
Army co-operation searchlight exercise
Wrightways Ltd (Croydon, Surrey)
De Havilland DH84 Dragon I G-ACHX - took off at about 19:00 but on returning to Croydon 2½ hours later the starboard engine failed during approach from the southwest. G-ACHX crashed into a row of trees near the Rose Walk and Promenade de Verdun intersection, Purley, a mile to the South West. The New Zealand wireless operator, Ernest Ratcliffe, received a broken right thigh, but his fellow countryman was more severely injured. It took a dozen firemen to lift the wreckage and finally extricate them, but the pilot died at Purley and District War Memorial Hospital three days later and was buried south of Croydon, at Wallington on 2 May.

Pilot: Colin Calder BYAR - Age 25. Byar served with the RAF 1933-37 as a short service commission officer and was on the Reserve at the time of the accident. Army co-operation searchlight flights by civil aircraft were a regular event in 1938 as war appeared increasingly inevitable.

An item in 'Flight' of 5 May 38 says : "FOLLOWING an accident at Croydon on the evening of April 25 to a D.H. Dragon which had been out on Army co-operation work, Mr.C.C. Byar, one of Wrightways' pilots, died in hospital on Thursday of last week.

The cause of the accident still remains a mystery. The machine was apparently circling the airport preparatory to making a final approach and landing, and it suddenly glided from view beyond the south-western boundary. An examination of the wreckage disclosed the fact that both petrol taps had been turned off, but that there had been ample fuel aboard at the time of the accident. The taps on the D.H. Dragon cannot be turned off by accident, nor can they be reached quickly, and the machine had been flying for two-and-a-half hours."

Registration G-ACHX cancelled by the Air Ministry 25.4.1938 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". This action was presumably retrospectively, as the Air Ministry records note "census 1938", which would indicate that the cancellation action was done towards the end of 1938, and not at or near the time of the accident.

1. Western Morning News - Tuesday 26 April 1938
2. Nottingham Journal - Friday 29 April 1938
3. Flight magazine 5 May 1938
4. Western Morning News - Tuesday 26 April 1938
5. Nottingham Journal - Friday 29 April 1938
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ACHX.pdf
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A4.htmll
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p060.html
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh84-dragon-i-croydon-1-killed
10. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/15/C252 (Crash at Doncaster 15.9.33): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576720
11. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/77-register-gb-g-ac
12. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
13. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?314-RAF-officer-deaths-1-1-29-3-9-39/page2
14. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14009.0
15. https://checkmypostcode.uk/cr83lj#.Y1qs2yjx4nA

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
05-Oct-2009 10:56	JINX	Updated
29-Dec-2011 15:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
02-Oct-2017 22:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
02-Oct-2017 22:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
23-Feb-2020 22:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Phase, Source, Narrative]
27-Oct-2022 16:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category]