ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25204
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| Date: | Thursday 11 December 1919 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Airco DH.4A |
| Owner/operator: | Aircraft Transport & Travel Ltd |
| Registration: | G-EAHF |
| MSN: | F2699 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Caterham-on-the-hill, Tandridge, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Le Bourget, Paris (LBG/PFPB) |
| Hounslow Heath, Middlesex | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ex-RAF F2699 (former RAF serial used on the CAA documentation in lieu of any official constructors number). First civil registered as G-EAHF 18.07.19 (C of R 188) to Aircraft Transport & Travel Ltd., Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, Hounslow, Middlesex. One source (see link #9) states that G-EAHF was one of (if not THE) first aircraft to operate a scheduled air passenger service between London (Hounslow Heath) and Paris (Le Bourget) on 25.8.19
On 11 December 1919 it departed from Paris Le Bourget Aerodrome on a scheduled flight to Hounslow Heath Aerodrome. There were two people aboard - the pilot, Stanley Blackall Bradley, and his passenger, George Franklin Rand (President, Marine Trust Co. of Buffalo, New York). As it approached Caterham, the aeroplane struck a tree and crashed into a field near the Guards Depot. The cause of the crash was not determined. Visibility, at the time and in that area, was low - being described as 'misty'. It is speculated that either the pilot was trying to land at Kenley Aerodrome, about one mile distant from the crash site, or had descended, to beneath cloud level, in an endeavour to orient himself. Mr Rand died on impact and Mr Bradley, from his injuries, in hospital two days later.
Flight magazine of 18 December 1919 reported the crash as follows:
'The Double Fatality at Caterham
THE first fatal accident in connection with the London-Paris service occurred on the afternoon of December 11, when an Airco machine piloted by Lieut. S. Bradley crashed at Caterham. Apparently the pilot, having run into a mist, tried to land at the Kenley aerodrome, but the machine crashed through a tree and came down near the Guards' Depot. The passenger, Mr. George F. Rand, a banker of Buffalo, N.Y., was instantly killed, and the pilot was so seriously injured that he died on Saturday. At the inquest on Mr. Rand the Coroner certified that his death was due to an accident, brought about by the misty weather.'
and in its subsequent issue, on 25 December, it added:
'The Caterham Fatality
AT the inquest on Lieut. S. B. Bradley, the pilot of the machine which crashed at Caterham, the opinion was expressed that he was flying along the base of a cloud which pinched him lower and lower until he struck the tree on the top of a hill while trying to reach Kenley aerodrome. A verdict of accidental death was returned.'.
This was probably one of the earliest of the very many aircraft crashes that occurred on this part of the North Downs ridge in marginal visibility conditions. The accident also was reported in The Times of 13, 16 and 18 December 1919."
Registration G-EAHF formally cancelled by the Air Ministry on 9.1.20 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. Flight December 18 and 25 December 1919
2. The Times Saturday December 13, Tuesday 16 and Thursday 18, 1919
3. Western Daily Press - Tuesday 16 December 1919
4. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/81-register-gb-g-ea
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-EAHF.pdf
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh4a-caterham-2-killed
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_airliners_in_the_United_Kingdom
9. https://www.key.aero/comment/1986983#comment-1986983
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Sep-2011 11:34 | Anon. | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 16-Dec-2013 22:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2017 19:23 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Source, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2017 19:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Narrative] |
| 29-Oct-2017 15:01 | Sergey L. | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 16-Jul-2018 21:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 28-Feb-2020 21:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Feb-2020 21:42 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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