Date:	Friday 20 November 1931
Time:	08:00 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.60X Moth
Owner/operator:	The Rhodesian Aviation Co Ltd
Registration:	VP-YAB
MSN:	452
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Bulawayo Airport, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia -   Zimbabwe
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Bulawayo Airport, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (BUQ/FVJN)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DH.60X Moth VP-YAB: Written off (damaged beyond economic repair) when spun in shortly after take-off from Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia 20.11.31; pilot Lieutenant Daniel Sievewright [Pat] Judson (aged 33) of Rhodesian Aviation Co and passenger Arthur George Eric "Jock" Speight (aged 25) killed. This was Southern Rhodesia's first fatal air accident.

According to one published source (see link #6)

"He was killed outright and his pupil, Arthur George Eric -"Jock" - Speight, died of his injuries the same afternoon. The exact cause of the accident was never determined: Speight, who was the son of the Solicitor-General of Southern Rhodesia and captain of the Rhodesian cricket team, already held a pilot's licence and was merely on a refresher course in the dual-control plane.

They had been in the air for less than three minutes when the plane suddenly nose-dived from a height variously estimated as between 50 and 100 feet (15 to 30 metres); the two occupants were thrown out and were found lying some six feet in front of the plane which was wrecked, its back broken, by the impact of the crash.

The accident caused immense shock throughout Rhodesia; not only was it the first in the country in which Rhodesians had been killed, but both Judson and Speight had been widely known and very popular figures. Tributes poured in and all activities, both sporting and social, planned for the weekend (the accident
happened on a Friday) were summarily cancelled. The Bulawayo Chronicle referred to 'two able and promising young men who, had they been spared, might have served their land, though in different spheres, in the same sound way as their fathers have done'.

And in the Bulawayo High Court on the Monday morning, Mr. Justice Mcllwaine asked for two minutes' silence and remarked: 'Tragic happenings such as these lead some to question the inscrutable ways of Providence; but the road of progress is only trod at the price of suffering and sacrifice. While we deeply regret the loss of these very fine young men, we rejoice to know that the rising generation of Rhodesians is worthy of the traditions of their race'.

At Pat's funeral in Bulawayo, the turn-out was said to have been the biggest ever seen and the same was true of Jock Speight's in Salisbury."

Registration VP-YAB cancelled early in 1936.

1. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-EBUO.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VP-Y.html
4. As G-EBUO: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-great-bitain-registers-g-eb/g-eb-part-2?highlight=WyJnLWVidW8iXQ==
5. As VP=YAB: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-other-registers/vo-vp-vr?highlight=WyJnLWVidW8iXQ==
6. http://www.oldmiltonians.com/history_images_noancientpile_book/Appendix_E_Pat_Judson.pdf
7. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/Nov30.html
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60x-moth-bulawayo-2-killed
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p004.html
10. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1980.pdf
11. http://www.rhodesia.nl/Aviation/judson.htm
12. https://rhodesianservices.org/user/image/publication06-2007attachment2.pdf
13. https://wisden.com/players/jock-speight
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Mqabuko_Nkomo_International_Airport

DH.60X [Cirrus II] registered G-EBUO [C of R 1496] 29.9.27 to The Rhodesian Aviation Syndicate, Bulawayo; named "Bulawayo". Test flown 7.11.27. C of A 1238 issued 10.11.27. Shipped to Durban and flown from there to Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia by Captain Mail and A G Hay; arriving 30.12.27. Damaged when hit tree on take-off at Bulawayo 4.3.28; repaired and returned to service. UK Registration G-EBUO cancelled 2.11.30. Re-registered as VP-YAB (C of R #2) 22.8.30 to The Rhodesian Aviation Co Ltd, Bulawayo.

In 1930 and 1931, Lieutenant Daniel Sievewright [Pat] Judson made numerous pioneer flights to previously uncharted locations:
In July 1930, he surprised Lusaka by making the first-ever landing there, carrying the first commercial passenger to Northern Rhodesia.
A month later, he flew to Nyasaland, where Sir Alan Cobham had previously only passed over.
Less than a year later, he made pioneer flights to Maun in Northern Bechuanaland and Dar-es-Salaam, beating his own postcard to Bulawayo by several days. In the same year, he flew to Port Amelia in southern Mozambique, receiving honors from the Portuguese Governor.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Jan-2014 22:17	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Aug-2017 14:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source]
22-Mar-2020 18:47	Sergey L.	Updated [Source]
29-Mar-2024 10:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category]