ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 203675
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| Date: | Saturday 21 August 1937 |
| Time: | 19:40 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60GIII Moth Major |
| Owner/operator: | Tollerton Aero Club Ltd, t/a Nottingham Flying Club |
| Registration: | G-ACZX |
| MSN: | 5113 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Huthwaite, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Demo/Airshow/Display |
| Departure airport: | Nottingham Airport, Nottinghamshire |
c/no. 5113: DH 60GIII Moth Major. C of A 4563 issued 3.11.34 to Indian Royal Air Force but not delivered [and probably replaced by c/no. 5116, which became, K5055 in February 1935]. Instead, civil registered as G-ACZX 12.11.34 to Nottingham Airport Ltd; operated by Nottingham Flying Club, Nottingham Airport, Tollerton, Nottinghamshire
C of A 4563 reissued 30.11.34. Re-registered [C of R 5583] 31.1.35 to Tollerton Aero Club Ltd, t/a Nottingham Flying Club, Tollerton.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed at Huthwaite, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire 21.8.37. Aircraft spun into the ground while stunt flying at a carnival, and both crew - James Daniel Bradbury (passenger, aged 35) and Roy Hobart Crossland (pilot, aged 21) - were killed.
According to published sources, compiled from local press and eyewitness accounts (see link #7):
"Every summer throughout the 1930s a grand carnival was held in support of hospitals in the Huthwaite area. At about 7.40 in the evening of Saturday August 21st 1937, while attended by as many as 10,000 people, the Hospital Carnival was severely marred by a terrible accident which took place in full view of everybody.
James Bradbury, a popular decorators' shop proprietor and 'competent' amateur pilot aged 35 from Sutton, had borrowed a Moth Major biplane from Tollerton Flying Club and was performing aviation stunts to entertain the crowd. He was accompanied by a young friend Roy Crossland (aged 21), another well-liked citizen of Sutton who worked in a plumber's shop. After various loops and figures-of-eight the aeroplane was seen to climb, go into a deliberate stall and spin down towards the ground - a manoeuvre from which they did not recover, so it crashed into a field with fatal consequences to pilot and passenger.
At the subsequent inquest, held in the basement of Huthwaite Library, District Coroner Mr H. Bradwell and the jury returned a verdict of 'accidental death'. It was agreed that there was some consolation from the fact that nobody on the ground was injured, but unfortunately James Bradbury was very much to blame for what had happened. One of the rules of the Flying Club (still based at Tollerton Airfield) was that aircraft were not to be used for stunting, though it was not uncommon in the inter-war years for people to take such regulations lightly. At about 7 o'clock on the evening of the tragedy Wilfred Whitehouse, a friend of Bradbury's, had actually rung him at Tollerton from his home in Sutton, warning that visibility was poor and that it would be foolish to fly over the Carnival. According to the Mansfield, Sutton and Kirkby Chronicle (27/08/37) 'Bradbury's reply over the telephone was "O.K."', but evidently the good advice went unheeded."
Registration G-ACZX cancelled 2.11.37 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-ac/g-ac-part-2?highlight=WyJnLWFjengiXQ==
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ACZX.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A6.html
4. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
5. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-moth-major-iii-huthwaite-2-killed
7. http://ournottinghamshire.org.uk/page_id__1145_path__0p2p50p85p62p134p136p.aspx
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p050.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huthwaite
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Jan-2018 20:45 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 02-Jan-2018 16:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date] |
| 09-Oct-2023 19:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [[Date]] |
| 21-Apr-2024 09:41 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Operator] |
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