Date:	Monday 19 October 1936
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.89M Dragon Rapide
Owner/operator:	Spanish Republican Air Force
Registration:	22-2
MSN:	6311
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Almudévar, 10 km SW of Huesca, Aragon -   Spain
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Huesca, Aragon
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
C/no. 6311: DH.89M registered G-ADYL [C of R 6541] 2.12.35 to The De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd, Hatfield. C of A 5253 issued 10.12.35. Registration cancelled 7.2.36 as sold abroad. Delivered 9.1.36 to El Jefe de Aviacon Militar, Spain, for the use of the Colonial Squadron in the Spanish Sahara but in the event were based at Escuela de Vuelo y Combate [Air Combat Training School], Alcala de Henares, north of Madrid.

To Spanish Republican AF as 22-2 & to Barcelona 31.7.36 and to Sarinena 4.8.36 where it was used by Alas Rojas Squadron on Aragon front, based in Sariñena. Effective bombing and propaganda missions throughout the Aragon front piloted by Jaime Camarasa, painted all black and known as “El Avion Negus” ("The Black Aeroplane").

The twin engine aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a Nationalist Air Force Heinkel He.51 and crashed in Almudévar, some 10 km southwest of Huesca, province of Aragon. The pilot Luis Aguilera Cullell was killed.

NOTE: A DH.89A was registered as G-ADYL by the Air Ministry on 19.8.55. However, this was an administrative error, as this airframe had no connection to the "original" G-ADYL. This airframe was c/no 6895, which had never been previously registered in the UK, having been NR831 in the RAF then registered in the Netherlands as PH-RAD, Kenya as VP-KED, the Israeli Air Force as 1306, then in Israel as 4X-AEI. Moreover, it was built in June 1945, nine years after the loss of the "original" airframe that was G-ADYL/Spanish AF 22-2.

This aircraft was part of a huge Republican Squadron formed by 12(13) aircraft in a support mission to attack the Tardienta front (1 Fokker FVII, 1 Dragon Rapide DH-89M, 8 CASA/Breguet XIX and 2 or 3 Hispano-Nieuport 52) were attacked by three Legión Condor Heinkel He-51. One Breguet, the Dragon Rapide and at least 2 (or 3) Nieuport 52 were shot down. With Aguilera, there were three more people conforming the crew, Ferret, one unknown, and Mariano Foyé, who received very serious injuries and died three months later. It seems German sources are confused between the Dragon Rapide and the Fokker F.VII

1. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh89.pdf
2. http://www.elgrancapitan.org/foro/viewtopic.php?t=12132
3. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/78-register-gb-g-ad
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89m-dragon-rapide-almudevar-1-killed
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ADYL.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A8.html
7.Revista Aeroplano Nº 24 "El Hispano-Nieuport 52 en la Guerra Civil Española"
Lluis Corominas IHCA 2006 Pag 51-52
8.Osprey Publishing Aircraft of the Aces 99 "Aces of the Legion Condor"
Robert Forsyth pag 26
9.Aviones Ingleses, Checos y Polacos en la Guerra Civil Española
Miranda/Mercado Ediciones Aldaba 1990 Pag 109-110
7.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Dec-2011 18:55	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Jul-2012 11:57	TB	Updated [Source, Narrative]
16-Jul-2012 11:59	TB	Updated [Location, Source]
03-Dec-2012 10:04	TB	Updated [Source]
03-Dec-2012 10:17	TB	Updated [Source, Narrative]
25-Oct-2017 00:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Feb-2019 17:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
21-Dec-2021 07:30	volman	Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative]