ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 205964
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| Date: | Saturday 15 July 1939 |
| Time: | 08:00 LT |
| Type: | BA Swallow 2 |
| Owner/operator: | London Air Park Flying Club Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AFHN |
| MSN: | 494 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Feltham Telephone Exchange, 51 Hanworth Road, Feltham, Middlesex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | London Air Park, Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First registered [C of R 8528] on 7.6.38 as G-AFHN to Blackburn Aircraft Ltd., Brough. East Yorkshire (aircraft based at Brough, East Yorkshire). C of A 6309 issued June 1938. Sold on and re-registered [C of R 8528/2] 8.2.39 to London Air Park Flying Club Ltd., London Air Park, Feltham, Middlesex (aircraft based at London Airpark, Hanworth Aerodrome, Hanworth, Middlesex).
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 15.7.39 when crashed into the yard of Feltham Telephone Exchange, 51 Hanworth Road, Feltham, Middlesex. One of the two persons on board was killed:
Harold Clyde Ferguson (pilot, aged 32) killed
Gordon Reginald Watson (passenger) injured
According to one source (see link #5):
"The one which crashed into Hanworth Road (BA Swallow. G-AFHN – 15th July 1939)
The crash occurred around 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning in July 1939 only a few minutes after pilot instructor Harold Ferguson, aged 32, had taken off with a Civil Air Guard pupil, Gordon Watson, aged 26. They were flying in a dual-controlled BA Swallow owned by the London Air Park Flying Club. Ten minutes after take-off while the airplane was still circling the aerodrome it went into a steep bank turn. Unable to recover from this, it dived into the yard of the Feltham Telephone Exchange from a height of 60 metres striking the roof of an outbuilding before crumpling in the yard. No one in the yard was hurt, although mail vans were being loaded at the time and there were houses within 6 metres on each side of the yard. The machine hit the ground with a terrific impact and was crumpled into a wreck. The petrol tanks burst, but luckily did not catch alight. Watson was extricated from the wreckage but the rescuers did not know that there was another person on board until they heard Ferguson’s groans. Ferguson died before the doctor arrived, but Watson was taken to Hounslow Hospital, badly shaken and suffering from a scalp wound.
Ferguson had three years’ flying experience and had been working at Hanworth for three months, exclusively flying Swallows. After the jury had recorded a verdict of accidental death and the coroner had said that no one was to blame, the coroner then commented that the accident could have happened from an error of judgement on the pilot’s part. This brought loud objections from the brother and friend of the pilot, who challenged this remark as being at odds with the coroner’s previous statement and the jury’s verdict. They added that there was no proof of who was at the controls at the time of the incident although the coroner took further evidence from Watson that it had been the pilot, Ferguson.
Registration G-AFHN cancelled by the Air Ministry 11.8.39 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-af
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFHN.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A10.html
4. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
5. https://habitatsandheritage.org.uk/blog/air-crashes-at-hanworth-aerodrome/
6. https://streetguide.co.uk/postcode/TW135AY
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Air_Park#GAL_&_preparation_for_war_1934%E2%80%931939
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Feb-2018 03:31 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 11-Feb-2018 03:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 18-Nov-2022 22:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 18-Nov-2022 22:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Category] |
| 18-Nov-2022 22:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Category] |
| 18-Nov-2022 22:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Category] |
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