ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 207180
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| Date: | Tuesday 12 October 1937 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Hawker Hind |
| Owner/operator: | 82 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | K6830 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Moulsloe Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire |
| RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Hawker Hind K6830, 82 Squadron, RAF Cranfield: Written off (destroyed) 12/10/37 when hit tree on approach at night and caught fire, RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire. Pilot - Pilot Officer James Laurence Wells (aged 21) - was killed. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Bedfordshire Times and Independent" October 15 1937):
"“FIRST FATALITY AT NEW AERODROME
Cranfield Pilot Killed in Night Landing.
The first fatal accident at the newly established Cranfield Royal Air Force Station occurred on 12th October at the edge of the aerodrome. An aircraft of No.82 Bomber Squadron which was being flown by Pilot Officer James Lawrence Wells, aged twenty-one, of Edinburgh, struck a tree near the Moulsoe Road and burst into flames. Efforts to save the pilot failed. Pilot Officer Wells, who had been posted to Cranfield for navigation duties after passing a short navigation course, was taking part in night operations. His aeroplane hit one of the trees in a clump attached to Moulsoe Road cottage occupied by Mr Sinfield. It crashed to the ground and almost immediately burst into flames.
Pilot Officer Wells was the only occupant and he had no chance of escaping. The aerodrome fire squad rushed to the scene, but when the flames had been extinguished the pilot was found to be dead. Squadron Leader N C Pleasance, Officer Commanding No.82 Squadron, said that Wells had been in the Air Force about two years. He last saw him alive at about 6.25 pm on Tuesday. Wells had been up and had made one landing. Witness asked him to make another landing, in accordance with the instructions. He went up at once, made a circuit of the Aerodrome, and came round to land in the flare path.
He came in at a very low altitude, wide of the flare path, and witness thought it was an error of judgment on his (Wells’s) part. He turned to his left, still at low altitude, and hit a tree about fifty feet high. The machine then fell to the ground and caught fire. He and other people rendered all the assistance they could.
DANGEROUS TREES?
The Coroner asked if there was any trouble about the first landing, and the witness replied that there was not. The instructions were to fly forty minutes and make two landings. In reply to another question, [the] witness said that the flare path was to one side of the trees. A verdict of accidental death was returned. The jury added a rider to the effect that any trees which impeded landing ought to be removed."
How long it was before the trees came down is not known but just a few weeks later there was another dramatic accident involving Hinds. On 5th November 1937, as three 82 Squadron Hinds were coming in to land, flying in a 'V' formation, the wing tips of the central and right hand aircraft touched and their wings locked together. Out of control, they crashed at the airfield boundary and were completely wrecked. Thankfully, and rather incredibly, the accident summary cards for Hawker Hinds K6822 and K6825 record that there were no fatalities or injuries."
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976, page 55)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
3. http://www.mackz.net/cm_samplearticles.htm#first crash
4. Flight magazine 21/10/37 page 405 at https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1937/1937%20-%202905.PDF
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?314-RAF-officer-deaths-1-1-29-3-9-39
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Mar-2018 21:04 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 26-Sep-2018 08:03 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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