ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22143
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| Date: | Thursday 19 July 1945 |
| Time: | c. 12:00 LT |
| Type: | Airspeed Oxford Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | ETPS RAF |
| Registration: | NM247 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Rowlands Wood, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire (EGDM) |
Written off (destroyed) 19 July 1945: took off from Boscombe Down on a Test flight, and crashed at Rowlands Wood, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight.
Eye witnesses reported seeing parts falling off and burning debris plummeting to the ground, which was later deemed to be the port auxiliary fuel tank. Losing this made the aircraft unstable and it was this instability that Leach fought to control. He had taken off from Boscombe Down at 11:30hrs to conduct and put the Oxford through stability trials and general airworthiness points.
A local farmer witnessed Leach fighting with the controls, desperately trying to avoid crashing into Havenstreet instead of bailing out. The aircraft finally crashed at the south-east corner of Rowlands Wood, Havenstreet where it burst into flames. Unfortunately Leach was killed on impact. A plaque was latterly made in his honour.
Cause of crash attributed to Loss of control owing to fire in port auxiliary tank bay causing structure damage and loss of large area of wing skin.
The pilot - Major Everrett W. Leach, USAAC, Student No 3 Course ETPS - was killed. Leach had been educated at Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Massachusetts, graduating in 1938. After working as an engineer for Standard Oil, he joined the USAAC, and at the time of the crash had been employed as a test pilot at the Empire Test Pilots School at Boscombe Down. Major Leach had been married with one child. He was awarded a posthumous DFC in 1950.
A memorial plaque was erected near the crash site. The plaque was erected following research by a former colleague and friend of Leach, Nils Askman.
Sources:
1. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=155
2. http://wight.hampshireairfields.co.uk/iowc.html
3. http://www.islandeye.co.uk/history/air_crashes_of_wwii/allied-airspeed-oxford-nm247.html
4. http://www.isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/others/havenstreetleach.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Aug-2008 08:36 | Anon. | Added |
| 20-May-2017 13:42 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 20-May-2017 13:44 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Dec-2018 10:09 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Operator] |
| 10-Apr-2020 20:04 | Nick Slaughter | Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator] |
| 04-Aug-2021 20:06 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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