ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 205916
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: | Saturday 14 May 1938 |
| Time: | 12:05 LT |
| Type: | Percival P.10 Vega Gull |
| Owner/operator: | Samuel Smith |
| Registration: | G-AFGU |
| MSN: | K.92 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Brundholme Ghyll, near Keswick, Westmorland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Woolsington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland |
| Liverpool Airport, Speke, Liverpool (LPL/EGGP) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First registered [C of R 8461] on 19.4.38 as G-AFGU to Samuel Smith, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (aircraft based at Newcastle Airport, Woolsington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland). C of A 6257 issued April 1938.
Written off (destroyed) 14.5.38 when crashed at Brundholme Ghyll, near Keswick, Westmorland. The aircraft was being flown from Newcastle to Liverpool with the planned route west from Newcastle to pick up the west coast and then follow it down to Liverpool. The weather in the area of Keswick at the time was reported as drizzling with low cloud down to around 1,000 feet. At just after midday the aircraft was heard flying west over Threlkeld towards Keswick.
It was thought that as the aircraft approached Latrigg the hill was partly shrouded in cloud, when the pilot got close to it he realised the aircraft was flying towards it and pulled the aircraft up sharply to avoid it. This sharp use of the flying control caused part of the tail to break away and the aircraft then dived into the ground out of control. The aircraft crashed at around 800 feet above sea level into woodland in the area of Brundholme Ghyll, between Skiddaw and Latrigg, in the Lake District The accident was seen and heard 2 miles away in Keswick. All three men on board died and all were pilot-members of the Newcastle Aero Club:
Samuel Smith (pilot/owner, aged 32)
Robert G Radcliffe (passenger, aged 26)
Norman Tennant Ayton (passenger, aged 30)
Causes: Structural failure of the rudder following a sharp turn attempted by the pilot.
Samuel Smith's family owned the Ringtons Tea company. He was born on 8.7.05 at Leeds, Yorkshire and worked for the family company. He gained his Royal Aero Club certificate (Cert.No.13991) at the Newcastle Aero Club on 26.6.36. Four days later on 30.6.36, Samuel Smith was the pilot of Gipsy Moth G-EBYV on a flight over the Weardale area when he became lost in poor weather, while force landing, the aircraft crashed at Glebe Farm, Medomsley, near Consett, Co.Durham; he escaped serious injury but the aircraft was destroyed.
On 6.3.37 he crashed Tiger Moth G-AELA "The Ringtonian" near Newcastle aerodrome and again was unhurt. In the week before the fatal accident near Keswick it was reported in his inquest that he crashed a (unidentified) Newcastle Aero Club aircraft. Vega Gull G-AFGU was registered to Samuel Smith, Rington's Ltd on 19.4.38 - he had been given the Vega Gull by his father in the weeks before the accident at Keswick. As can be seen, it was Samuel Smith's third crash in three successive years.
Registration G-AFGU cancelled by the Air Ministry 14.5.38 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". The cancellation was probably retrospectively, as the aircraft's record card notes "(Census 1938)" - which indicates that the Air Ministry were not informed about the demise of G-AFGU until the end if 1938, some six months later
Sources:
1. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/80-register-gb-g-af
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AFGU.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A10.html
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-percival-p10-vega-gull-keswick-3-killed
5. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/lakes/afgu.html
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
7. http://aircrashesnearstanleyandconsett.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/de-havilland-gypsy-moth-g-ebyv-at.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Feb-2018 23:47 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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