Date:	Tuesday 24 December 1929
Time:	15:15 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	John Scott-Taggart
Registration:	G-AADV
MSN:	998
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel, 1.5 miles off Sandgate, near Folkestone, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Lympne Airport, Lympne, Kent (EGMK)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
c/no. 998: DH.60G Moth (with Auto-slot) [Gipsy I engine #219]; first registered G-AADV [C of R 1850] 21.1.29 to John Scott-Taggart, Hythe (based Stag Lane, Edgware & Lympne, Kent). C of A 1785 issued 5.2.29; delivered 8.2.29. Crashed on landing Bolton 3.4.29 avoiding man on runway, after completion of tour to Switzerland. To Short Bros Ltd, Rochester and rebuilt for Scott-Taggart with special one-off single-float amphibian; re-flown as such in June 1929. Exhibited on Short's stand at Olympia Aero Show in July 1929.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when capsized whilst landing in rough seas one mile off Sandgate, Kent 24.12.29. Landing a floatplane, particularly one with a mono-float, on a rough sea is not the thing that most people would think of doing on Christmas Eve. But that's precisely what John Scott-Taggart did in 1929, one and a half miles off Sandgate, Kent.

Based at Lympne, on 24 December 1929 it was flying off the neighbouring coast when it made a landing in rough sea off Sandgate. Being an amphibian, the sea being rough and it being late December, one surmises that Mr Scott-Taggart did not alight on the sea out of choice but was making a forced landing. Sadly, all did not go well with this and the Moth capsized in the course of it. There is no record of Mr Scott-Taggart being injured as a result and the aeroplane was salvaged, presumably righted and towed into Folkestone Harbour.

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald" - Saturday 28 December 1929):

"Christmas Eve Thrill.
An aeroplane crash in the Channel about one and a half miles off Sandgate, on Christmas Eve just after 3 o'clock provided a thrill for large numbers of people at Folkestone, Sandgate, and Hythe.

After clinging to a float of the machine for some 10 minutes the two occupants of the 'plane were rescued by two Hythe men who promptly launched a boat. Mr. John Scott-Taggart, who lives at Harlow, Seabrook Road, Hythe and is well known to thousands of wireless enthusiasts, was piloting the 'plane, of the amphibian type, which was his property, and he was accompanied by a passenger, Mr. S. Jefferson. They both escaped with bruises and a soaking.

The machine, just previous to the accident, had been seen flying over the Channel in the direction of Hythe, and the pilot was about to land when suddenly the 'plane crashed and turned turtle. The machine immediately began to sink and it was only with difficulty that the airmen clung on to a float, the only part of the machine left above the surface of the water.

The lifeboats at Folkestone and Hythe were prepared for launching, but Mr. Harry Wire, the well-known Hythe footballer, and Mr. "Sonny" Griggs, who is related to the coxswain of the Hythe lifeboat, got away quickly in a rowing boat and reached the two occupants just in time.

Mr. Scott-Taggart told a "Herald" representative who saw him at his home that he was landing on the water when a large wave threw the machine into the air. "When the aeroplane made contact with the sea again, I think the float supports, under the strain, must have given away, for the machine somersaulted on to its back," he said.

WARNING TO PASSENGER.
"I had barely called out a warning to my passenger to loosen his safety belt when the nose of the 'plane went under the water. Both of us Managed to free ourselves from our seats as the machine turned turtle and we clung to the main float, the only part of the machine now above water. As there was every possibility of the 'plane sinking beneath us we divested ourselves of our shoes and outer clothes ready to swim for it in the icy water. It was very cold and we were both numbed. We had waited half an hour before there was any sign of any boat coming to our rescue. Fearing that perhaps they had not seen us on shore I took off my white sweater and waved it in the hope of attracting attention. The float we were clinging to was now virtually under the water."

WELCOME ROWING BOAT.
"Then we sighted the rowing boat coming towards us from the direction of Hythe. The two men in it were pulling hard and their arrival was certainly very welcome, for when they got alongside, we were both waist-deep in the water and our only means of support, the float, had broken its back and was letting in the water rapidly. We got into the rowing boat and were landed on the beach at Seabrook. From there we took a bus and went home to change our wet clothing. It was a real Christmas Eve adventure."

Mr. Harry Wire, gave a modest but graphic account of the rescue: "I had just reached the parade," he said, "on a motor cycle with my brother when we saw the machine nose-dive into the Channel, about a mile out. I immediately called to 'Sonny' 'Griggs, another Hythe lad, a friend of mine, and he and I raced to the beach, and took the first boat we could find. The ring was out, and we did not stop to put it in. Of course, we got a good deal of water in the boat, but we rowed as hard as we could, and I estimate that we covered about three miles in 2 minutes. When we reached the machine the two men had taken off their shoes and other articles of clothing, and were on a float, as if they were preparing to swim for it. But I doubt if they would have' managed it, because the water was so cold."

On Christmas Day the aeroplane was washed up a complete wreck on the rocks near the East Cliff sands, Folkestone. It was taken into the fish market."

Registration G-AADV formally cancelled 2 January 1930 due to "destruction of permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft"

Note that the aircraft crashed off Sandgate, near Folkestone, Kent, as per the above...despite some published sources insisting that Moth G-AADV crashed "off Felixstowe, Suffolk" (sic). (Such as links #11 & #12). Perhaps they were confusing "Felixstowe" with "Folkestone"?

1. Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Saturday 06 April 1929 (crash at Bolton 3/4/29)
2. Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald - Saturday 28 December 1929
3. De Havilland Enterprises: A History by Graham M. Simons
4. Short Brothers: The Rochester Years by Philip Macdougall
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AADV.pdf
6. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
7. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/de-havilland-cirrus-moth
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
9. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/59103-floats-1930-s-moths.html#post563252
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFhZHYiXQ==
11. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p009.html
12. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-moth-folkestone
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott-Taggart
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandgate,_Kent

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Feb-2020 19:06	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Feb-2020 19:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
29-Feb-2020 19:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
23-Dec-2023 18:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category]