ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25867
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| Date: | Friday 30 June 1933 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60G Moth |
| Owner/operator: | R. Ussher & P.O. Mweiga |
| Registration: | VP-KAX |
| MSN: | 1913 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Mjele, 30 miles from Mbeya, Tanganyika -
 Tanzania
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Nairobi, Kenya |
| Durban, South Africa |
c/no. 1913 DH.60G: to Brooklands Aviation Ltd without engine and presumed erected there or used in rebuild; no UK C of A issued.
Sold to Kenya and registered VP-KAX 21.6.33 to Richard Ussher & P.O. Mweiga, Nyeri. (Probably as replacement for Moth VP-KAS (c/no 1911) which crashed 16.10.32).
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30.6.33 when crashed near Mjele, 30 miles from Mbeya, Tanganyika (Tanzania). Both occupants were killed (one immediately, one five days later) while the aircraft was destroyed. As this date was only seven days after registration, the Moth possibly crashed on its delivery flight or very soon after.
Note that one published source (see link #6) states
Capt. Richard Ussher (pilot, aged 33) died 5.7.33 (suicide; self-inflicted gunshot wounds)
Mrs Ethel May Ussher (nee Hopley, passenger) killed 30.6.33
It would seem that the wreckage of Moth VP-KAX was not found until 5.7.33, and both on board were dead when found - one apparently killed at the scene on 30.6.33, the other deceased by his own hand up to five days later. (Hence the date of "5.7.33" is quoted in several published sources, as that is the date that Moth VP-KAX and the two persons on board were found). A brief report in a contemporary Australian newspaper (The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld) Wednesday 12 July 1933 Page 11 - see link #1) gives further details
"HONEYMOON TRAGEDY.
'Plane Crashes into Mountain.
CAPETOWN, July 10.
A report from Dar es Salaam states that Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ussher, a honeymoon couple from Kenya, were flying from Nairobi to Durban, when their 'plane crashed into a mountain 30 miles from Mbeya. Mrs. Ussher was killed outright, and Ussher was clenching a revolver when his body was found. He was a prominent amateur rider, and formerly a life guardsman".
A contemporary report in "Flight" Magazine states:
"Deaths - On 5 July 1933, killed in aeroplane accident in East Africa, Richard Ussher of Laburra, Kenya Colony, only son of the late Capt. Edward Ussher, Scots Greys and Mrs Edward Ussher of 11 Wyndham Place, London AND - On 5 July 1933, killed in an aeroplane accident in East Africa, Ethel wife of Richard Ussher, Laburra Kenya Colony, and daughter of Colonel and Mrs Hopley of Nairobi, Kenya Colony"
Sources:
1. The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld) Wednesday 12 July 1933 Page 11: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22194523
2. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p019.html
4. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/vp-kaa.pdf
5. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/93-register-other
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accmisc.htm
7. https://www.europeansineastafrica.co.uk/_site/custom/database/default.asp?a=viewIndividual&pid=2&person=23550
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VP-K.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbeya
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 09-Dec-2011 13:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 12-Aug-2017 23:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Aug-2017 16:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 13-Nov-2023 18:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 15-Nov-2023 07:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative, Category] |
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