Date:	Sunday 5 March 1961
Time:	day
Type:	Miles M.65 Gemini 1A
Owner/operator:	Eric Francis Thurston (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-AKDD
MSN:	6284
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Thames Estuary, off Warden Point, Isle of Sheppey, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Stapleford Tawney, Abridge, Essex (EGSG)
Destination airport:	Biggin Hill Airport, Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent (BQH/EGKB)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Miles M.65 Gemini Mk.1A G-AKDD: first civil registered (C of R 11817/1) on 16/9/47 to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, London WC.2. C of A 9739 issued September 1947. (Address amended from 19/1/54 to London W.1 with same registered owner, with news C of R R 2644/1). Used by the Civil Aviation Flying Unit (CAFU) for communications and radar calibration duties

Registration cancelled/lapsed 16/9/55 upon sale
Sold on and re-registered (C of R R 2644/2) 20/9/55 to Air Charter Ltd., London W.1. Reportedly based at Southend Airport, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Registration cancelled/lapsed 29/10/57 upon sale
Sold on and re-registered (C of R R 2644/3) 12/11/57 to Balfour (Marine) Engineering Co Ltd., Ilford, Essex
Registration cancelled/lapsed 21/3/59 upon sale
Sold on and re-registered (C of R R 2644/4) 26/3/59 to Eric Francis Thurston, Theydon Bois, Essex, Aircraft based at Stapleford Tawney, Abridge, Essex

Crashed into the Thames Estuary off Warden Point, Eastchurch, Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent on 5/3/1961. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Birmingham Daily Post" - Monday 06 March 1961)

"PILOT TRIES IN VAIN TO SAVE PASSENGER
The pilot of a private monoplane which crashed in the Thames estuary off the Isle of Sheppey yesterday tried to save his passenger, a non-swimmer, but had to give up. The pilot, although nearly exhausted, managed to swim ashore. The passenger was drowned.

The pilot was Mr. Raymond Stephens, aged 23, company director, of Church Lane, Loughton, Essex. The body of the passenger, Mr. Bertram Amor, aged 35, of Beechcroft Road, Leytonstone, was recovered later by Southend lifeboats, after a search in which a police launch and five other boats, together with a Coastal Command helicopter had taken part.

The plane, from Stapleford aerodrome, made a perfect landing in the water". Wreck dragged ashore at
Leigh-on-Sea and taken by road to Stapleford, Essex. Registration G-AKDD cancelled by the CAA on 10/6/1961 as "permanently withdrawn from use"

1. Birmingham Daily Post - Monday 6 March 1961
2. Safety Was No Accident: History of the UK Civil Aviation Flying Unit (CAFU) 1944-1996 p.23 By James Fuller
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AKDD.pdf
4. G-AKDD at Oxford (Kidlington) (OXF/EGTK) 25/4/59: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1079888/
5. http://saadonline.uk/air-charter-fleet
6. http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2010/10/international-air-rally-rhoose-3rd4th.html
7. http://www.cafuhistory.com/1944---49.html
8. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1992.pdf
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1993.pdf
10. https://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/l/?=loc=Warden+Road%2C+Warden%2C+Warden%2C+Sheerness%2C+Kent+ME12+4HG%2C+UK&id=3109513

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jul-2009 23:29	VHKDK	Added
28-Nov-2012 16:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
17-Apr-2014 16:20	TB	Updated [Location, Embed code]
14-Mar-2020 00:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
22-Sep-2022 23:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
22-Sep-2022 23:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]
22-Sep-2022 23:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]
22-Sep-2022 23:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]