Date:	Friday 18 September 1931
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.60M Moth
Owner/operator:	Nigel Benjamin Cohen
Registration:	G-AAKR
MSN:	1395
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Royal Oak Inn, New Inn Green, near Lympne, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent (EGMK)
Destination airport:	Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent (EGMK)

Narrative:
c/no 1395: DH.60M Moth [Cirrus III] registered as G-AAKR [C of R 2107] 30.7.29 to National Flying Services Ltd, Hanworth, Middlesex. C of A 2137 issued 3.8.29. Fitted with Gipsy I engine. Re-registered [C of R 2652] 5.30 to Capt. the Hon Denys G Finch-Hatton, Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex.

Re-registered [C of R 2769] 7.8.30 to Nigel Benjamin Cohen, Lympne, Kent. Crashed on landing near Fishguard 8.30, when inbound from Ireland; repaired and returned to service.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed after wing failed in steep dive near the Royal Oak Inn, New Inn Green, near Lympne, Kent 18.9.31; killing pilot/owner Nigel Benjamin Cohen, aged 23. On the day of the fatal accident, Cohen arrived at Lympne and stated it was his intention to practise aerobatics, in particular inverted spins. He took off in G-AAKR and climbed to around 4,000 feet and flew straight and level for a period. The aeroplane then started to dive with the engine apparently full on, the angle of dive not being very acute to start with. Then the Moth put its nose down and descended in a slightly over the vertical dive. This dive continued for around 800 feet and then parts of the aircraft were seen to break away, the Moth spun to the right, and complete collapse of the wing structure occurred.

Technical examination of the wrecked aircraft led investigators to believe that the primary cause of the accident was aileron flutter which developed during the first stage of the dive. Torsional oscillation of the wing extensions under the influence of that flutter caused the auto slots to open during the high-speed dive, and the resulting combined stresses caused the front spar of the starboard plane to fracture.

According to the following contemporary newspaper report ("Western Morning News" Saturday 19 September 1931):

PILOT'S FATAL DIVE.
'PLANE LOSES WING AT HEIGHT OF 4,000 FEET.
An aeroplane crashed from a height of 4,000 feet at New Inn Green, Kent, last night, and the pilot, Mr. N. B. Cohen, 23, of Sandy Hatch, Hythe, was killed. Mr. Cohen was the eldest son of Sir Herbert Benjamin Cohen, Bart., of Sandy Hatch, Hythe. He had previously taken off from the headquarters of the. Cinque Ports Flying Club at Lympne. When diving from a height of about 4,000 feet a wing was observed to fall from the machine, which crashed. When the machine fell it missed the New Inn by only a few feet and crashed near to the wall at the back of the hotel. People from the inn rushed to the wrecked machine, but found that the pilot was dead.

Mr. K. K. Brown, an instructor at the Cinque Ports Flying Club, was quickly on the scene and said he had been watching Mr. Cohen in the air. The engine to him seemed to be running perfectly. He considered that the crash was due to the excessive strain upon the structure of the machine owing to its big dive".

Registration G-AAKR cancelled by/on 30.11.31 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft". The National Wills & Probate calendar lists the location of the pilot's death as "Elham, Kent" which is near Canterbury, approx. 6 miles to the north-east. The pilot (born 18.1.1908) was the son of Sir Herbert Benjamin Cohen, 2nd Baronet Cohen of Highfield, and Hannah Mildred Cohen

New Inn Green (also called Newingreen) is a village near Folkestone in Kent, England. It is situated on the junction of the A20 and the historic Stone Street between Lympne and Canterbury. The village is near Junction 11 of the M20. It is in the civil parish of Stanford.

1. Western Morning News - Saturday 19 September 1931 (accident report as per the above)
2. Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser - Friday 25 September 1931 (report of theft of parts of the airframe from crash site)
3. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald - Saturday 26 September 1931 (report of inquest in pilot's death, which was adjourned due to parts of aircraft reported missing/stolen)
4. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 30 November 1931 (resumption of inquest)
5. Portsmouth Evening News - Friday 4 December 1931 (conclusion of Inquest)
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/14/C204: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576672
7. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
8. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AAKR.pdf
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60m-moth-lympne-1-killed
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
11. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2519.0;wap2
12. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/Aug30.html
13. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
14. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFhZW4iXQ==
15. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p013.html
16. https://billiongraves.com/grave/Nigel-Benjamin-Cohen/23858634
17. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/nigel-benjamin-cohen-24-1y8pgs?geo_a=r&o_iid=41013&o_lid=41013&o_sch=Web+Property
18. https://www.geni.com/people/Nigel-Cohen/6000000015193854710
19. https://www.thepeerage.com/p60242.htm#i602417
20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newingreen

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Nov-2017 18:05	Dr. John Smith	Added
26-Feb-2020 04:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
16-Nov-2023 07:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Category]