Incident de Havilland DH.60X Moth N-38,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 34245
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Tuesday 19 March 1929
Time:day
Type:Silhouette image of generic DH60 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
de Havilland DH.60X Moth
Owner/operator:Flight Lieutenant Alf Gunnestad
Registration: N-38
MSN: 428
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:near Calais Lighthouse, Place de Henri Barbusse, Calais -   France
Phase: En route
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Lympne Aerodrome, Ashford, Kent (LYM/EGMK)
Destination airport:Oslo Airport, Fornebu, Oslo, Norway (FBU/ENFB)
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
c/no 428 DH.60X Moth [Cirrus II #88] registered G-EBSU [C of R 1436] 8.8.27 to The Most Hon. the Marquess of Douglas & Clydesdale, Dungavel, Strathaven (based at Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex and Dungavel). C of A 1190 issued 23.8.27; delivered 24.8.27. Traded in to DeHavilland in part exchange for DH.60G G-AAEB. Registration G-EBSU cancelled 16.3.29 as sold abroad. Re-registered in Norway as N-38 13.3.29 to Flight Lieutenant Alf Gunnestad, Oslo

Written off (destroyed) 19.3.29: Crashed in fog near Calais Lighthouse, Place de Henri Barbusse, Calais and destroyed by fire. The pilot and owner Alf Gunnestad took delivery of the aircraft at Lympne, Kent and was flying back to his base in Oslo, Norway. While flying over the area of Calais, he encountered foggy conditions and lost control of the aircraft which crashed near the Calais Lighthouse. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire and the pilot was seriously injured with multiple burns injuries

The pilot survived, recovered, and had a 50-year-long aviation career; he died in 1987 aged 83. He was NOT killed in the above incident, as per some published sources. Short biography Alf Gunnestad (May 17, 1904 - August 15, 1987):

"Aviation pioneer and later District Chief of Air Traffic Control in Eastern Norway (Fornebu) Gunnestad was trained as a pilot at the Army Flying School at Kjeller in 1925, and received his commercial pilot's license in 1927. and later flew the night mail route to Copenhagen. He participated as a pilot during Lars Christensen's Thorshavn expedition in 1933/34 and the Gunnestad glacier in Dronning Maud Land is named after him. During World War II, he was active in the resistance movement and fled to Sweden in February 1945. He worked there for Norwegian police forces and became the leader of the Norwegian Ulvsunda camp. After the war, he was employed by the Civil Aviation Authority as a district manager. Gunnestad was active in aviation sports, received the Norwegian Aero Club’s badge of honor in 1969, and served as a volunteer instructor for young people who wanted to obtain a pilot’s license" (see link #1 for full biography)

Sources:

1. Alf Gunnestad – Flypioner (European Airlines Robert J M Mulder, 2017) [Norwegian language]: https://www.europeanairlines.no/product/alf-gunnestad-flypioner/
2. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E3.html
4. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-great-bitain-registers-g-eb/g-eb-part-2?highlight=WyJnLWVic3UiXQ==
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p004.html
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60x-moth-calais-1-killed
7. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-EBSU.pdf
8. https://www.wikiwand.com/no/Alf_Gunnestad (Norwegian text)
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais_Lighthouse

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
27-Sep-2008 01:00 ASN archive Added
09-Dec-2011 16:51 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
09-Dec-2011 16:54 Dr. John Smith Updated [Source, Narrative]
12-Aug-2017 21:41 Dr. John Smith Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
31-Aug-2017 18:59 Dr. John Smith Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
31-Aug-2017 19:00 Dr. John Smith Updated [Narrative]
21-Sep-2017 08:22 TB Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Apr-2019 18:02 Dr. John Smith Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Nov-2019 14:35 Anon. Updated [Operator, Operator]
23-May-2020 20:35 TB Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
20-Nov-2022 20:10 Dr. John Smith Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
14-Dec-2023 09:28 Dr. John Smith Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
14-Dec-2023 09:28 harro Updated [Other fatalities, Country]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org