Mid-air collision Accident Hawker Hart K4977,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 208520
 
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Date:Tuesday 25 July 1939
Time:day
Type:Hawker Hart
Owner/operator:12 SFTS RAF
Registration: K4977
MSN:
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Longlands Field, Little Humby, 5 miles E of Grantham, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase: En route
Nature:Military
Departure airport:RAF Spitalgate, Grantham, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
Hawker Hart K4977 of 12 SFTS, RAF Spitalgate, Grantham, Lincolnshire: Written off (destroyed) 25.7.39 when collided with Bristol Blenheim L1465 of 23 Squadron, RAF at Longlands Field, Little Humby, South Kesteven, five miles east of Grantham, Lincolnshire. (At approximate co ordinates 52.884644°N 0.511296°W). One person in each aircraft was killed, one of the Blenheim crew baled out .The pilot of Hawker Hart K4977 - Acting Pilot Officer William Leonard Wright (aged 23) - was killed, as was one on the Blenheim crew:

Acting Sgt Leslie George Tarrant (aged 30) killed
Flying Officer Percy Don Walker baled out; injured

According to a contemporary report in the "Lincolnshire Echo" (on the Coroners inquest into the death of the pilot), which is the nearest thing to an "eyewitness report":

"The Coroner received a statement by Flying Officer Walker, in which he said that he performed a steep climbing turn after break-away intending to recall the flight to a southerly course, when he felt a tremendous jar The cockpit of his machine was badly damaged, and the craft fell out of control in a steep dive. His height was about 2,000 feet at the time and Sgt. Tarrant opened the sliding roof a few inches and began to buckle on his parachute. He (Walker) undid his belt, and tried to open the sliding roof a little further, but it seemed to have jammed. He eventually managed to open it just enough to abandon the machine."

Sources:

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 38)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/blenheim-test.html
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?16019-Who-is-quot-Harry-quot-23-Sqn-Early-1939/page3&styleid=3
5. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1930s-incident-logs#1939
6. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/sergeant-leslie-george-tarrant-raf-25th-july-1939.70101/
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?18234-Pre-War-Wittering-acft-amp-personnel-losses/page2&styleid=3
8. http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/12fts/12fts.htm

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
31-Mar-2018 20:50 Dr. John Smith Added
19-Oct-2018 13:35 Nepa Updated [Operator, Operator]
21-Aug-2022 19:41 Lipatov Sergey Updated [Narrative]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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