Date:	Thursday 11 May 1950
Time:	day
Type:	EoN Olympia 1
Owner/operator:	RAF Gliding and Soaring Association
Registration:	G-ALLS
MSN:	EoN/O/002
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stockbury, near RAF Detling, 3 miles NE of Maidstone, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
EoN Olympia 1: This glider had dual BGA/CAA registration; it was registered with the BGA (British Gliding Association) as BGA 502, and with the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) as G-ALLS. As G-ALLS it was first registered on 4 April 1949 to Mr. Charles Ryall of Saltford, Somerset (C of R 12651/1; C of A 10517)

On 10th May 1950 a civilian Olympia Glider registered as G-ALLS, being flown by a RAF pilot on duty, crashed with fatal consequences at Stockbury, near RAF Detling, 3 miles North East of Maidstone, Kent. Although registered under its civil number, it was the property of the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association. Piloted by 83376 Flight Lieutenant L.A Miller, the aircraft was engaged in practice aerobatics - Miller successfully completed two successive loops and then attempted a slow roll, and observers on the ground noted that he started this manoeuvre with the nose of the glider well below the horizon (from the pilot's point of view).

While inverted his air speed increased and he attempted to recover by completing his loop. The Olympia had recovered to within about 45 degrees of the horizontal at 3,000 feet, but at this point Miller faltered in his recovery and his angle of descent steepened. The speed increased still further and he began a gentle turn to port, unfortunately running out of height and striking the ground. Flight Lieutenant Miller attempted to abandon the glider by parachute shortly before impact, but failed to make it out of the cockpit.

The investigation and subsequent Court of Inquiry noted that the cause of the crash was loss of elevator control due to structural failure - Miller had conducted aerobatics "other than those permitted by the Certificate of Airworthiness thus unduly stressing the tail assembly". The Court found Miller was directly responsible for the accident in that he caused structural failure by subjecting the glider to stresses for which it had not been designed.

It was not until fourteen years later, on 10 January 1964, that the registration G-ALLS was cancelled as "marks withdrawn from use" (presumably as part of a "clean up/census" of the UK civil register)

1. Detling Airfield: A History 1915-1959 By Anthony J. Moor
2. Chatham News - Friday 19 May 1950
3. East Kent Gazette - Friday 26 May 1950
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 233/21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424142
5. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Olympia.htm
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ALLS.pdf
7. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?54450-Gliders-in-the-G-AL**-series-1949&p=1119916
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockbury
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=750.0
10. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20253.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Jan-2015 17:25	Dr. John Smith	Added
22-Dec-2019 23:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
20-Feb-2020 16:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-Feb-2020 16:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-Feb-2020 16:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator]
07-Aug-2022 23:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Category]