ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 19477
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Tuesday 18 September 1951 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Taylorcraft Auster Plus D |
| Owner/operator: | Cecil Lawrence Pashley |
| Registration: | G-AHCI |
| MSN: | 159 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Shoreham Airport, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ex-RAF Auster LB288: Delivered to 20 MU RAF Aston Down 23/8/42, before being issued to 653 Squadron. On 8/11/42, it was transferred to 43 OTU with whom it remained until 15/11/43 when it was returned to 20 MU and on 2/2/44 conveyed to Rearsby for repairs. Afterwards it was ferried back to Aston Down on 6/4/44 for long-term storage. Eventually on 18/1/46, LB288 was sold to Taylorcraft where it was civilianised as G-AHCI.
First civil registered (C of R 9933/1; C of A 7531) on 12/3/1946 as G-AHCI to Auster Aircraft Ltd., Rearsby, Leicestershire. Sold on 10/5/1946 (C of R 9933/2) to Brooklands Aviation Ltd., Weybridge, Surrey. Sold on again (with new C of R R743/3) on 20/3/1951 to Cecil Lawrence Pashley, Shoreham, West Sussex.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when destroyed by fire in a hangar fire whilst parked at Shoreham Airport, Shoreham, West Sussex on 18/9/1951. Registration G-AHCI cancelled by the CAA on 8/5/1952 as "? aircraft destroyed"
The destruction by fire of G-AHCI should be cross-referenced with the loss of another Auster (J/1 Autocraft G-AJXS) which also perished in a hangar fire at Shoreham at around the same time:
"Webb & Bird's history of Shoreham Airport mentions, in Chapter 7, that:
'In September 1951 two aircraft were destroyed by fire at Shoreham in mysterious circumstances. Sadly one of them was the veteran Taylorcraft Plus D G-AHCI, the very first civil aircraft to land at Shoreham after the war.'
It doesn't give the date of the fire but several sources give 18 September 1951 as the date of the destruction by fire of G-AHCI. Webb & Bird's book doesn't identify the second aircraft. However Peter Campbell's record of aircraft visiting Shoreham Airport between 1946 and 1970 states that on 5 September 1951 G-AJXS, a resident aircraft, was burnt out in a hangar fire (it also states that G-AHCI was burnt out in a hangar fire on 18 September 1951). Was this the same fire or were there two fires at Shoreham in less than two weeks? And if there were two fires, what was the identity of the second aircraft destroyed by fire on 18 September 1951? These are questions to which I haven't found answers. Neither volume elaborates on the cause of the fire(s)."
Sources:
1. Air-Britain: British Civil Register News 1 Oct 1951
2. Auster Quarterly Vol 1 No 2 Summer 1975: http://austerhg.org/auster_mags/Auster%20Quarterly%20Volume%201%20Number%202.pdf
3. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-AHCI.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Pashley
5. http://austerhg.org/prod_list/pages.php?page=40
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AHCI.pdf
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15854.0
8. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16710.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 10-Dec-2012 12:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 16-Mar-2017 22:18 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Mar-2020 18:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Apr-2020 15:51 | David Morris | Updated [Registration] |
| 14-Apr-2020 19:14 | harro | Updated [Registration] |
| 26-Jul-2020 21:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation