Date:	Saturday 30 June 1934
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hart
Owner/operator:	600 (City of London) Sqn RAF
Registration:	K2983
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hendon, Middlesex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	RAF Hendon, Middlesex
Destination airport:	RAF Hendon, Middlesex
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Hart K2983, 600 (City of London) Squadron, RAF Hendon: Written off (destroyed) 30/6/34 during an "Empire Air Day" air display at RAF Hendon, Middlesex, when the aircraft stalled and crashed. One of the two crew was killed:

Squadron Leader Stanley Beresford Collett (aged 38, Commanding Officer of 600 Squadron) killed
Flying Officer Robert Francis Gordon Lea (pilot) injured

Squadron Leader Collett was, in addition to his RAF service, a director of Railway Air Services, and the son of the then Lord Mayor of London. Hence his death was "high profile" news at the time, and covered by the Pathe newsreels (see links #4 & #5). The following is from a contemporary report in "Flight" magazine 5 July 1934:

“As No.600 (City of London) Bomber Squadron climbed from its dive, one ‘Hart’ left the formation and turned left, possibly with engine trouble. The pilot of the machine was F/O R.F.G. Lea and the commanding officer, S/L S.B. Collett, was in the gunner cockpit behind him. The pilot made for the west end of the aerodrome, losing height rapidly, and finally, at a low altitude, made an attempt to turn into the wind to land.

In doing so he lost flying speed and stalled, one wing tip hitting the ground. The machine stood on its nose with great violence and Sqn Ldr Collett in the rear cockpit was killed instantaneously by the impact. The pilot was cut and bruised but managed to get out of the machine. Some considerable time afterwards the petrol ignited and the machine was burnt before it was possible to reach the body of Sqn Ldr Collett.”

In "Hansard" (the official record of debates in the House of Commons), the Secretary of State for Air stated:

"The regrettable accident which occurred at Hendon on Saturday was the result of an attempted forced landing probably due to engine failure. The pilot of the aircraft is still suffering from injuries received in the crash and cannot be questioned, but it would appear that when gliding in to land he realised that if he continued on his course he would land among the spectators and that he turned at a low altitude and, in so doing, stalled the aircraft”.

I should like to take this opportunity of publicly expressing my Noble Friend's and my own deep personal sympathy with the relatives of the late Squadron Leader Collett, and to place on record the Air Council's high appreciation of the distinguished services he has rendered to the Auxiliary Air Force since its formation”.

The subsequent board of enquiry accounted for the accident in that the knee of Pilot Officer Lea had inadvertently knocked and turned off the fuel cock – a not uncommon accident – and that at low altitude and ever slowing speeds his manoeuvres stalled the aircraft leading to an uncontrolled stall landing. The finding was obviously one that lay the blame at least partly at the Pilot Officer’s door – however, he seemingly continued with 600 Squadron for a few years afterwards, and he crops up in one photograph in the Getty Collection from WW II as a Wing Commander associated with the Observer Corps. Robert Francis Gore Lea appears to have died in 1994.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 20)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
3. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17796-RAF-Fatalities-1934
4. https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/solicitors-in-world-war-one/stanley-beresford-collett/5041853.article
5. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/royal-air-force-pageant/query/collett
6. Sqn Ldr Collett's Funeral: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/in-the-shadow-of-st-pauls/query/collet
7. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Stanley_Beresford_Collett
8. http://600squadronassociation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Profile_-_Stan_Collett_-_600.pdf
9. Hansard House of Commons Debate 3 July 1934 vol 291 cc1751-2
10. http://www.thepeerage.com/p24429.htm
11. http://www.collettfamilyhistory.net/Part-51-Descendents-of-the-Gloucestershire-Line-Rev.5.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-May-2018 19:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
09-Oct-2018 17:37	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]