ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 209359
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| Date: | Thursday 12 June 1930 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Hawker Horsley |
| Owner/operator: | 100 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | J8005 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Upavon, Wiltshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Upavon, Wiltshire |
| RAF Upavon, Wiltshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
O’MEARA, Frederick Ernest, Sergeant (aged 25, Service #335796) was killed on 12 June 1930 over RAF Upavon, Wiltshire, when his Hawker Horsley (J8005) of No.100 (Bomber) Squadron collided with Bulldog K1091 of No.3 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton (survived); possible rehearsal for a mock dogfight between a Horsley and a Bulldog at an RAF Display.
O’Meara’s passenger (359791 LAC William Hagan) also in Horsley J8005, was uninjured. The incident may have brought about the end of Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton's RAF career; he certainly had left the RAF by the end of 1932 (see link #4). K1091 was destroyed, and was struck off charge the next day (13 June 1930)
According to a contemporary newspaper account of the incident (Friday 13 June 1930 , Western Daily Press , Bristol, England):
"Two RAF machines collided 1,000 feet up over Upavon, Wiltshire, yesterday. The pilot of one machine was killed, but his passenger and the pilot of the plane descended in safety by parachute.
The Air Ministry announced that the condition at Upavon, Wiltshire was between a Horsley machine of number 100 Bomber Squadron, Bicester, Oxon, and a Bulldog machine of number 3 Fighter Squadron, Upavon.
No 335796 Sgt Frederick Ernest O'Meara, the pilot of the Horsley plane was killed. His passenger, no 359791 Leading Aircraftsman William Hagen, and Pilot Officer Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton the pilot and sole occupant of the Bulldog machine, jumped for life and made a safe descent by their parachutes."
They say that this was the 16th RAF crash that year. The accident was widely reported in a lot of different papers of the time, mostly with the same report, although the Western Gazette quotes a witness as saying that Douglas-Hamilton "suddenly came out of the clouds and cut across the other aircraft, which crumpled up into a ball". He only saw two parachutes open.
NOTE: This accident was the second time Sgt O'Meara had been involved in a flying accident while in RAF service. The previous incident was on 30 January 1928 when he was seriously injured when flying a DH.9A aircraft of No.45 (Bombing) Squadron, Helwan, Egypt. He recovered and returned to service, and was killed as per the above. It is reported that he was buried in Brighton, East Sussex. Ironically, he had already applied to leave the RAF, and, had he lived, would have done so within weeks of the above accident.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 6)
2. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17427-RAF-Fatalities-1930
3. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Malcolm_Douglas-Hamilton#Career_in_aviation
5. https://www.british-genealogy.com/threads/80867-R.-A.-F.-No.-45-(B)-Squadron
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/09267.php
7. http://www.worldnavalships.com/directory/aircrewprofile.php?AircrewID=11693
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2018 19:16 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 16-Apr-2018 14:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Oct-2018 16:48 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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