Date:	Saturday 19 February 1949
Time:	09:45
Type:	Avro Anson T Mk 21
Owner/operator:	2 ANS RAF
Registration:	VV243
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Exhall, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Middleton St. George, Co. Durham
Destination airport:	RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
The Exhall mid-air collision happened on Saturday 19 February 1949 over the village of Exhall when a British European Airways Douglas Dakota G-AHCW collided in clear weather with a Royal Air Force Avro Anson T21, VV243 of 2 ANS (Air Navigation School).

The Dakota was on a flight from Northolt Airport near London to Glasgow-Renfrew Airport in Scotland. With a crew of four it was carrying six passengers, and had taken off from Northolt at 09:13 hr. The Royal Air Force Avro Anson T21 was being operated by No. 2 Air Navigation School on a cross-country training exercise from RAF Middleton St. George. Both aircraft were operating under VFR (Visual Flight Rules).

The two aircraft collided at 4,500 feet near the village of Exhall, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire. The wreckage fell near an old peoples' home, the Exhall Lodge Hospital. There were no survivors from either aircraft.

Although the weather at the time of the crash was clear, the accident investigation concluded that the crew of neither aircraft saw each other, possibly due to glare from the sun, and blamed the accident on a failure on the part of both Captains to keep a proper look-out for other aircraft.
The Crew:
Pilot II Kazimierz Suwala (pilot) RAF
Signaller II George Charles Tillon (WOp) RAF
Cadet Navigator John Sneddon Mackison (Nav.) RAF
S/Ldr Anthony Ronald Rush (2nd Pilot) RAF

As stated above all four crew of Anson VV243 were killed. See separate entry for the 10 fatalities on board Dakota G-AHCW. There were no reports of any other fatalities or injuries on the ground

Exhall is a suburban settlement and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Bedworth, in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England

1. National Archives, Kew. Ref BT 217/2440: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576594
2. National Archives, Kew. Ref BT 217/2441: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576595
3. National Archives, Kew. Ref BT 217/2445: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576599
4. National Archives, Kew. Ref BT 217/2451: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576605
5. 14 Killed in Air Crash" (News). The Times (London). Monday, 21 February 1949. Issue 51311, col D, p. 2.
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Exhall_mid-air_collision
7. 2 ANS RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1948 to 31-12-1950L National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/1780: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101490
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-652-anson-t21-exhall-4-killed
9. https://zh-cn.facebook.com/AviationAccidentsThisDayInHistory/posts/this-day-in-history-70-years-agosaturday-19th-of-february-1949-united-kingdom-a-/822055774836000/
10. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/AMIL-Accidents-Aug-1944-Jul-1950.pdf
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhall#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
23-Jan-2010 00:28	John Baker	Updated [Country, Nature, Source, Narrative]
16-Mar-2012 08:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
30-Nov-2012 04:50	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
10-Dec-2019 19:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Destination airport, Source]
11-Dec-2019 20:22	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
13-Dec-2019 18:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source]
23-Dec-2019 20:45	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
18-May-2023 16:42	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]