ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 302150
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| Date: | Wednesday 21 November 1956 |
| Time: | 17:14 |
| Type: |  North American F-86D-45-NA Sabre |
| Owner/operator: | 514th FISqn /406th FIWg USAF |
| Registration: | 52-4141 |
| MSN: | 190-544 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | A253 Ramsgate-Canterbury road, near RAF Manston, Kent, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Manston, Ramsgate, Kent |
| RAF Manston, Kent |
North American F-86D-45-NA Sabre 52-4141, 514th FIS (406th FIW) USAF: Written off (destroyed) 21.11.56 when ran off the runway (Runway 11) on landing at RAF Manston, Ramsgate, Kent due to a burst tyre. Aircraft tore through the perimeter fence and collided with a passing car (an Austin A35) on the A253 Road about 100 yards from the Junction of the A253 with Way Hill. The driver of the car that the F-86D collided with (a Mr. Bignell) was killed. The pilot of the F-86D survived uninjured. According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("East Kent Times - Wednesday 21 November 1956):
MOTORIST KILLED AS JET HITS CAR
Tyre burst makes plane swerve
Driving home along the main Ramsgate-Canterbury road at tea-time on Monday, a motorist was killed instantly when a U.S.A.F. Sabre jet fighter undershot the runway while landing at Manston, tore through the fence bordering the road, and sliced off the roof of his small saloon car before ploughing into a field.
The victim of the accident was Mr. George Edward Bignell, aged 46, of Strathmore, Margate-road, Herne Bay. A married man with two daughters, aged 21 and 15, and a son aged 19, Mr. Bignell was returning home from Deal, where he was a foreman of works at the Admiralty Depot, Royal Marines.
The aircraft, a swept-wing F-86D Sabre jet fighter, was piloted by 1st Lt. Edgar Lewis, of the 514 Fighter Interceptor Squadron. He escaped unhurt from the cockpit of the wrecked machine and was taken to the base hospital suffering from shock.
It was exactly 5.14 p.m. when the tragedy occurred, at a point about 100 yards from the Junction of the A253 with Way Hill. Mr. Bignell, in his new Austin car, was driving along the main road flanking the aerodrome, travelling towards Canterbury. At the same time 1st!Lt. Lewis was nosing his silver-grey Sabre jet down towards Manston, approaching the orange-lit runway from the west. The aircraft undershot the runway. The right front tyre burst and the aircraft slewed round, skidded off the runway, careered through a rope barrier and smashed a huge jagged hole in the boundary fence. Then it hit the approaching car broadside on, ripped off its roof and ploughed into a field on the other side of the road. The tangled roof of the car was thrown 25 yards into the field.
The full Manston rescue service dashed to the scene with fire appliances, rescue teams, ambulances and a doctor. Fire engines rushed from Ramsgate. They found the tiny four-seater car at a 45 degrees angle across the road, with its rear in the chestnut fencing and its front pointing towards Minster. The car's headlights and one of its sidelights still blazed. The other light was missing. All that was left of the "baby" Austin was a shambles of twisted metal and shattered glass. The roof was gone completely, the bonnet was buckled, the steering wheel bent and the red upholstery torn. Mr. Bignell's body was found on the rear seat. He had been killed instantly.
As more jets flew in to land on the nearby runway, police, and helpers using torches, dragged the crumpled vehicle into the side of the road. It was later towed to a garage at St. Nicholas. A U.S.A.F. rotary sweeper was used to clear the road for the stream of cars and buses.
Armed American guards were posted for an all-night vigil guarding the aircraft, silhouetted in the moonlight only 30 yards from the roadway. There was still the danger of fire from the fuel in its tanks.
The Coroner for East Kent, Mr. W. R. Mowll, has ordered an inquest on Mr. Bignell at Ramsgate Courthouse today (Wednesday)".
According to some sources (see link #2) the wreckage was recovered to RAF Burtonwood, Warrington, Cheshire, seen there at the Base's "Armed Forces Day" on 18.5.57 (see link #6) where it was finally scrapped in June 1959.
Sources:
1. East Kent Times - Wednesday 21 November 1956
2. A Detailed History of RAF Manston 1945-1999 By Joe Bamford
3. http://www.forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/f86d-sabre_523598-5210176.html.
4. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1955/5601.html
5. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20349.0
6. https://derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/11582/burtonwood-usaf-armed-forces-days
7. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1952.html
8. https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=A253
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Jul-2023 08:18 | Nepa | Updated |
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