Date:	Friday 26 April 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Airspeed AS-58 Horsa Mk II
Owner/operator:	21 HGCU RAF
Registration:	RX777
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	2½ miles south west of RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Circumstances of loss (Summary from AIB Report AVIA 5/28/W2342):

26th April 1946 at 10:26 hrs – 21 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit, RAF Elsham Wolds – Airspeed Horsa II – RX777 – Sgt H E Ridgeway and crew - Training. Approximate crash location – 53°35'08.7"N 0°29'11.0"W - 2½ miles south west of RAF Elsham Wolds airfield near River Ancholme and just over a mile west of the village of Elsham, North Lincs.

The Horsa was towed by a Handley Page Halifax (MA132) for the purpose of carrying out an exercise which consisted of a release from the tug when heading into the wind at 2,000 ft and a subsequent landing on the airfield. After a normal take off the towing aircraft and glider climbed steadily away from the airfield with the glider taking up the high tow position.

On reaching 900 feet, the tug pilot commenced a gentle turn to port. As he did so, the glider released the tow without warning. The Halifax pilot, Warrant Officer A Bountiff of 21 HGCU, watched the glider complete 2 left hand turns and, at the conclusion of the second turn, the glider’s bank increased and the port wing struck the ground. The glider pilot was seriously injured and the co-pilot killed instantly. The glider was a write off.

Crew of Horsa RX777:
Pilot - Sgt H E Ridgway – Glider Pilot Regiment – Survived, but seriously injured.
Co-Pilot – Sgt (777202) Arthur Noel Honeywell, MM, (Glider Pilot Regiment) Killed in service 26-4-46.

Sergeant Arthur Noel Honeywell was awarded the MM (Military Medal) while serving with the Royal Artillery in Iraq in 1941

The glider was assembled from prefabricated parts at 6 MU and certified airworthy on the 27th March 45. It was transferred to 21 HGCU at Elsham Wolds. No replacements or repairs had been carried out apart from replacement of a nose strut and stub axle. The aircraft had 50 hours flying time at the time of the crash. 2 flights totalling 30 mins had been completed by this glider on the day of the accident and the daily inspection had been carried out the previous evening. A major inspection due on the 27th March 1946 had not been carried out.

Examination of the wreckage.
The crash occurred just outside a large field approx 2½ miles south west of the airfield boundary. The port wing tip of the glider struck the ground first in an almost vertical bank. The glider cartwheeled onto its nose, spun round and came to rest facing the direction of approach. The wreckage trail measured approx 100 yards.

The port aileron was approx 10 yards from the first point of impact and had broken centrally into 2 portions. The forward part of the fuselage including the pilot’s cockpit had been smashed and the rear portion had struck a tree. The outer portion of the port wing was reduced to matchwood but all the parts lay close to where the wing had struck the ground. The remainder of the port wing was still attached to the fuselage.

The starboard wing had fractured in download at the fuselage attachment points. The centre section was undamaged and the flaps were retracted.

Flying controls were checked and no trace of any pre crash defect could be found. The elevator tabs were undamaged and in neutral setting. There was no evidence of any failure in the airframe or controls except perhaps the port aileron in which the lug holding together the 2 halves of the aileron had failed in a manner suggestive of failure in fatigue. Parts of the aileron were sent to the RAE for examination. The RAE report concludes that the condition of the aileron was not consistent with a failure under flight loads and must be associated with wing failure, presumably on the ground impact.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.29 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.131
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. https://www.northlincsweb.net/RAFElshamWolds/html/26th_april_1946_-_21_heavy_glider_conversion_unit_raf_elsham_wol.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2736418/ARTHUR%20NOEL%20HONEYWELL/
6. 21 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit (HGCU) RAF ORB: (Operations Record Book) for the period 1-7-42 to 30-11-47: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/526/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160810
7. AIB Accident Report: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AVIA 5/28/W2342 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578188
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conversion_units_of_the_Royal_Air_Force
9. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1945-49-incident-logs#1946
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Elsham_Wolds#Post_war

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Jul-2021 15:49	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-Jul-2021 15:54	youda	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
14-Jul-2021 11:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]