ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 172987
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| Date: | Sunday 28 July 1929 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Simmonds Spartan |
| Owner/operator: | National Flying Services Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AAMC |
| MSN: | 20 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Hanworth Park, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Demo/Airshow/Display |
| Departure airport: | Hanworth Aerodrome, Middlesex |
| Hanworth Aerodrome, Middlesex | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Simmonds Spartan G-AAMC: registered [C of R 2153] 29.5.29 to National Flying Services Ltd, Hanworth. C of A 2080 issued 28.6.29.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when spun in during low aerobatics at Hanworth Park, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex, 28.7.29; aircraft caught fire on impact, and pilot, Flying Officer Jack Harley Caulfield (aged 25) was killed. According to one source (see link #7):
"The Simmonds-Spartan, a light 2-seater bi-plane, was one of the airplanes used by National Flying Services (NFS), headquartered at Hanworth, for their training. On 28th July 1929 the aircraft was being spun during low acrobatics when it crashed into trees and caught fire on impact. Both the occupants were thrown out. The pilot, Flying Officer Jack Harley Caulfield (aged 25) who died of his injuries two days later in Hounslow Hospital, was described as a 'skilfull young airman' recently engaged by the NFS. His passenger, Percy Read, of Twickenham, survived but suffered shock and facial injuries and was treated at St John’s Hospital, Twickenham.
Jack Caulfield had been married only a month before and was living nearby at the Yews, in Sunbury. He had joined NFS on 15th June that year, as one of the stunt pilots in the air circus they were forming.
The fatal flight only lasted only 12 minutes when it spun from a height of 30 metres into trees. Giving witness for NFS, Captain Thomas Neville Stack, their chief pilot, said “A thing you must remember on the question of low stunting is that it appeals very much indeed to the younger generation.” He continued: “And when they suffer a little sometimes from over-confidence they stunt low even against orders. A man may be an experienced pilot, but in the fact he flies low he may take unnecessary risks.”
Another witness believed that Mr Caulfield had done over 13 hours flying in the same machine, and had seen him roll it on a previous occasion, but at a safe height of 450 – 600 metres. However, Caulfield had previously been warned by other NFS pilots to stop flying low. Neighbours too had complained about the low flying although some of the witnesses for the NFS claimed that these aircraft could have come from nearby Heston or Service (RAF) machines passing over the district. All agreed that Caulfield had successfully executed his roll manoeuvre but badly recovered from it and most likely stalled on the way out and went into a spin. Caulfield’s sister, who was with him before he died, believed that he said “I must keep clear of the water” or “the river.”
Registration G-AAMC cancelled 9.8.29 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AAMC.pdf
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/11/C143: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576611
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A1.html
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-simmonds-spartan-hanworth-1-killed
5. http://wight.hampshireairfields.co.uk/sim.html
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17392-RAF-fatalities-1929
7. https://habitatsandheritage.org.uk/blog/air-crashes-at-hanworth-aerodrome/
8. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Air_Park#Private_flying_1929%E2%80%931934
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Jan-2015 16:10 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 14-Jan-2015 16:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Nov-2017 23:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source] |
| 22-Jun-2018 17:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jun-2018 21:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Nov-2022 15:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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