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Date: | Tuesday 12 November 1946 |
Time: | day |
Type: | de Havilland DH103 Hornet F Mk 1 |
Owner/operator: | TDU FAA RN |
Registration: | PX229 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | 1 mile north of Charterhouse, Mendip Hills, Somerset -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
Departure airport: | RAE Farnborough, Hampshire |
Destination airport: | RAF Locking, Weston Super Mare |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Hornet F1 PX229: Written off (destroyed) Flew into high ground in bad visibility one miles north of Charterhouse, Mendip Hills, Somerset 12.11.46. Pilot killed
The aircraft, which was serving with Boscombe Down, crashed on a transit flight to the TDU (Torpedo Development Unit) at RAF Locking, Weston Super Mare. The aircraft was flying in cloud and clipped trees, causing it to crash into the hillside on the opposite side of a valley. The pilot was thrown clear but sadly was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pilot:
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Bentley FAA RN - killed 12.11.46. Buried at Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery, Portsmouth
The pilot was officially attached to HMS Daedalus, the Royal Naval Air Station at Lee on Solent, Hampshire. In 2011, there were local press reports that an attempt was being undertaken to recover some wreckage (see links #8 & #9)
Sources:
1. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes Since the End of World War II by Peter Forrester at
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wings-over-somerset-peter-forrester/1110841589 2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-PZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.245
5.
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH103%20prodn%20list.txt 6.
https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1946-09SEP.htm 7.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2438286/bentley,-thomas-george/ 8.
https://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/rare-plane-found-in-charterhouse-1-977794 9.
https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/111076-licenced-recovery-of-dh-hornet-px229?page=0 10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charterhouse,_Somerset Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
15-Jun-2018 06:17 |
Nepa |
Added |
16-Aug-2018 10:50 |
angels one five |
Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
18-Nov-2019 02:39 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
05-Feb-2021 16:46 |
v |
Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |