ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 68809
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| Date: | Thursday 22 April 1937 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Gloster Gauntlet Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 8 FTS RAF |
| Registration: | K5281 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Ravenscar, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Catfoss, Hornsea, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Montrose, Angus | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Gauntlet K5281 was built to contract 296880/35 by the Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd. and delivered directly to 8 FTS on 2nd May 1936. This aircraft was one of a number of fighters flying to Montrose on Sunday, 18th April 1937 after the squadron were returned to their base from an attachment at Catfoss airfield where training had been carried out. The route up and down the country at this period was such that pilots simply followed the coastline and landed at airfields near the coast to re-fuel.
As this aircraft made its way north it flew into thick fog covering the North Yorkshire Moors coast on this day and having got into difficulties the pilot, it would appear, tried to force-land his aircraft on a road near Ravenscar. At one side of the road there were telegraph poles, the other side of the road had poles carrying electricity. The pilot clipped a stone wall along the road side with his undercarriage whilst trying to land, a wing then struck an electricity pole with a flash, removing the wing and bringing down the pole and wires.
The aircraft then swung across the road narrowly missing a cottage, through the branches of a small tree before coming to rest in a field badly damaged a hundred yards from the first point of impact with the wall. Two young children, John and Eileen Brand (aged two and three respectively) had lucky escapes, the broken electricity pole missed them by only a matter of feet.
A number of local people had witnessed the crash, the owner of the house that was missed by feet, Mrs Brand and owner of the Crag Hill Hotel, Miss Smallwood are given mention in the local paper press report as rushing for help in Ravenscar. Mr H Gibson who lived close by was one of the first to reach the plane, he told the local paper that he saw the pilot still conscious but hanging out of the plane by his safety belt.
Fuel was leaking badly over the area so Mr Gibson reached into the cockpit area and switched off the aircraft to avoid the fuel being ignited. The engine broke off on impact and had made its own route across the field and lay some thirty yards from the main wreckage. Whilst this was happening on the ground, two other aircraft that this Gauntlet had been flying with were circling overhead.
The pilot of the crashed aircraft was lifted from the wreckage and carried to a neighbouring house to await the Cloughton doctor, Dr B G Forman, arriving before being taken to Scarborough Hospital with severe shock, head and chest injuries and puncture wounds. Twenty minutes after the crash the fog began to lift but power to Ravenscar was cut off for some time before being restored by the Scarborough Electricity Department.
K5281 suffered Cat.W/FA damage in the above incident. The wreckage was taken to RAF Station Driffield for assessment on 22nd April 1937 where it was struck off charge sometime later. It had done 206.55 hours total flying time.
Pilot - LAC Frank Morton RAF (280250), of 52 Hinton Road, Ardington, Birmingham. Seriously injured.
Sources:
1. Air-Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s
2. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/preww2/k5281.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Oct-2009 03:14 | JINX | Added |
| 23-Jan-2012 02:58 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 18-Jul-2013 04:59 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 12-Jan-2015 01:45 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Nov-2018 18:47 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Destination airport, Operator] |
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