Date:	Sunday 29 June 1930
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	George L.P. Henderson t/a Henderson Flying School
Registration:	G-AAHX
MSN:	1062
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Purley Way, Waddon, near Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)
Destination airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)

Narrative:
c/no 1062: DH.60G Moth [Gipsy I] registered as G-AAHX [C of R 2003] 29. 5.29 to Sir Pyers G.J. Mostyn, Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex. C of A 2052 issued 30.5.29. Registered [C of R 2137] 28.8.29 to Col Henry Sidney John Streatfield DSO, London W1 (aircraft based at Stag Lane, Edgware).

Crashed 1.30; rebuilt by Brooklands School of Flying. Sold 5.30 (but not re-registered) to The Brooklands School of Flying Ltd, Brooklands. Operated by George L.P. Henderson t/a Henderson Flying School, Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey.

Written off when crashed (dived in from approximately 400ft, off a sharp turn to port), at Maller's Field off Purley Way, Waddon, near Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey 29.6.30; both persons on board - Alexander Arnott (Jock) Anderson and Charles William Hamnett (both aged 34) - were killed.

This crash and the subsequent inquest certainly raised a few pulses. The post mortem showed that both Anderson and Hammett had consumed alcohol before the flight. At the inquest there were forceful exchanges between the coroner and the solicitor representing the Anderson family. It was also suggested that Anderson had flown the aircraft without permission - then there are allegations that there was some sort of 'cover up' by the authorities relating to official documents that the solicitor wanted to be disclosed but the coroner, after seeking advice, declined to do so.

According to a contemporary newspaper report into the incident ("Dundee Courier" - Monday 30 June 1930)

"PRIVATE 'PLANE WRECKED
TWO DEAD IN CROYDON CRASH
Brechin Widow Loses Versatile Son
Two men were killed when an aeroplane crashed just outside Croydon Aerodrome yesterday. They were: Mr A. A. Anderson, Croydon Road, Wallington, Surrey, the pilot; and Mr Hammett, a passenger.

Mr Alexander Arnot Anderson, who was 53 years of age, was the son of Mrs Anderson, widow, Trinity Road, Brechin. His father, who died several years ago, was a sergeant in Edinburgh Police Force. On his retiral from the police force Sergeant Anderson and his wife went to reside in Brechin. The family belonged originally to Aberlemno.

In Air Force
The deceased joined the Air Force during the war. He paid frequent visits to his mother at Brechin. Mr Anderson was familiarly known to his flying friends as "Jock." Before taking his pilot's certificate three or four years ago he was employed as a mechanic at Croydon Aerodrome. One of his feats, which often repeated, consisted in walking on the wings while a machine was in motion. He leaves a widow and one boy.

The crash, occurred within 300 yards of the aerodrome, but at a spot which was hidden from the control tower by a plantation. Anderson, who was head mechanic of the Henderson Civil Aviation Bureau, had taken up his friend, Hammett, as a passenger, and it is thought they intended fly to Brooklands.

Versatile Flier
Colonel G. L. P. Henderson, head of the bureau, told a reporter that the machine was last seen from the aerodrome flying inverted and with the engine still running. "After taking off Mr. Anderson made a circuit, and was flying back towards the aerodrome at a height of 300 feet. Nobody knows why the accident occurred. The 'plane was apparently doing a left-hand turn when it went into a vertical dive and turned over. The machine was privately owned." Colonel Henderson added that "Jock" Anderson had been with him for 10 years, and was a "wonderful fellow." "He was one the most versatile men in the whole industry. He was a parachutist, a wing-walker, pilot, and an efficient ground engineer."

A number of motorists who had seen the machine in trouble rushed down a cart track between two fields and found the aeroplane a flattened mass of wreckage. Evidence that the machine overturned before the crash was found in the fact that a number of cushions, seats, maps, and other oddments were scattered over the field".

Registration G-AAHX cancelled 2.12.30 as "Withdrawn from Use"

1. Dundee Courier - Monday 30 June 1930
2. Nottingham Evening Post - Friday 18 July 1930
3. Coventry Evening Telegraph - Friday 18 July 1930
4. Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 30 July 1930
5. Belfast News-Letter - Thursday 31 July 1930
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/12/C169: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576637
7. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
8. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AAHX.pdf
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFhaHgiXQ==
11. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
12. https://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-moth-croydon-2-killed
13. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p010.html
14. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15524.0

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Nov-2017 21:55	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Jun-2019 19:27	Sergey L.	Updated [Source]
29-Feb-2020 22:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Nov-2023 18:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category]