ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 221589
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| Date: | Tuesday 22 May 1917 |
| Time: | morning |
| Type: | Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 |
| Owner/operator: | RFC Coventry Aircraft Acceptance Park |
| Registration: | A4688 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Radford Aerodrome, Coventry, Warwickshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Radford Aerodrome, Coventry, Warwickshire |
| RFC Lympne, Ashford, Kent | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
22.5.17; Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 A4688, RFC Coventry Aircraft Acceptance Park. Written off (destroyed) when stalled on left hand turn and then nose dived, near Radford Aerodrome, Coventry, Warwickshire. Pilot - 2nd Lt Arthur Henry Felix Fletcher (aged 19, formerly of the 13th Hussars) - was killed. According to the aircraft accident record card for R.E.8 A4688 (see link #3):
"Court of Inquiry 87/accdt/109
2/7/17
Flying accident. Stalled on left hand turn and then nose dived. Court of Inquiry convened Coventry, Warwickshire 23/5/17. The Court concluded that 2nd Lt. Fletcher met his death from causes not clearly discernible. 2/15 times on an R.E.8 was clearly not sufficient for an average pilot, freshly graduated, to qualify as an R.E.8 ferry pilot. Accident therefore probably caused due to the inexperience of the pilot on this type of machine."
In addition, the following is the relevant extract from the biography of the pilot, and deals with the crash (see link #5 for the full biography):
"On the morning of Tuesday 22nd May 1917 Arthur sat in the cockpit of RE8 A4688 a bi-plane fighter that was destined for Lympne aerodrome in Kent and from there a short hop across the Channel. He was told it was a brand new machine but had been tested and was sound. Arthur took off in the plane and when he got to about 100 feet altitude for some unknown reason it turned to the left. He sought to correct the plane which then stalled then spun and crashed to earth killing Arthur. On crashing the fuel tank burst engulfing the plane in flame. He had suffered skull and other fractures as well as severe burns and died immediately. It was less than a week after his nineteenth birthday, a milestone in Arthur’s military career, which, once reached, had freed him for active service at the front.
Arthur’s death is commemorated near the family home in EAST SHEEN CEMETERY."
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1917.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/399909/fletcher,-arthur-henry-felix/
3. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/fletcher-a.h.f.-arthur-henry-felix
4. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/crashes1917.htm
5. http://www.bancroftians.net/cgi-bin/bancms3.pl?dn=centfletcherahf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Feb-2019 00:07 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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