Date:	Thursday 14 May 1931
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.60M Moth
Owner/operator:	National Flying Services Ltd
Registration:	G-AAJX
MSN:	1374
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Rising Moon Public House, Matley Lane, near Hyde, Cheshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	London Air Park, Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex
Destination airport:	Stanley Park Aerodrome, Blackpool, Lancashire

Narrative:
c/no 1374: DH.60M Moth [Cirrus III] Registered as G-AAJX [C of R 2084] 16.7.29 to National Flying Services Ltd, Hanworth, Middlesex. C of A 2117 issued 17.7.29.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Matley, near Hyde, (at the time part of) Tintwistle Rural District of Cheshire 14.5.31. On the 14th May 1931 it was being flown to Stanley Park airfield at Blackpool by Bruce Bossom, American born son of a former architect who was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Maidstone in October 1931.

Either the flight had taken longer than expected or Mr Bossom had taken off with not enough fuel for the planned trip. While approaching Manchester from the south east he was aware that the aircraft was low on fuel and he would have to land. He chose a field behind the Rising Moon pub on Matley Lane near Hyde and landed successfully. He was able to obtain fuel for the aircraft and after refilling its fuel tank took off again.

Immediately after taking off, he made a turn close to the pub before striking a hedge, losing the propeller and one wheel. While still airborne but only a few feet from the ground Mr Bossom jumped from the aircraft and was fortunate to receive only minor injuries, the Moth crashed almost immediately afterwards. To an eye witness it had appeared as though control of the aircraft had been lost while making the turn.

When the aircraft crashed the fuel onboard was ignited and the aircraft was destroyed by fire. After receiving treatment for his injuries at the Rising Moon, Mr Bossom set off in an attempt to complete his flight to Blackpool from either Woodford or Barton in another aircraft.

Fourteen months after this crash, on the 27th July 1932, Bruce Bossom was killed, along with his mother Emily Bossom and Count Otto Erbach-Furstenau, a friend, when the de Havilland Puss Moth, G-ABDH, they were flying from Heston to Southampton in broke up in flight near Rushmoor in Surrey. Their deaths are commemorated on heathland where that aircraft crashed. At the inquests into their deaths, it was stated by a representative of the Air Ministry that the likely cause was structural failure of the fuselage or the tail. He discounted the possibility of failure of the tail structure which left him with the conclusion that it was the fuselage which had broken up, possibly as a result of damage received at an earlier date during a heavy landing, or similar event.

Registration G-AAJX cancelled 31.12.31 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft"

1. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AAJX.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
4. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFhangiXQ==
5. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/tag/de-havilland/
6. https://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60m-moth-hyde
7. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accb1934.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matley

Rising Moon Public House, Matley Lane, Hyde, Tintwistle Rural District of Cheshire; photographed on 2 March 2009. The crash of DH.60 Moth G-AAJX took place in the field behind the pub

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Nov-2017 00:42	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Nov-2023 19:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]