ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 234663
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 October 1913 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Sopwith Green Biplane |
| Owner/operator: | Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd |
| Registration: | Unregistered |
| MSN: | 2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Surrey |
| Hendon Aerodrome, Middelsex | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On 8th October 1913 Harry Hawker sets out from Brooklands despite a strong southerly wind. Confident of his machine without the weight of the floats, he takes off slightly cross wind over the trees towards Cobham and at 200 feet turns downwind to head for Hendon. Loosing height in the turn he meets a “strong down-current over the trees which border the Weybridge-Byfleet Road and falls almost vertically into the field by the side of the river next to houses by the Italia Works”. Twisting around as it falls the machine hits the ground one wing first and settles upright with the hardly damaged engine pushed back into the passenger seat.
By braced his legs against the fuel tank, Harry “saves his legs and probably his life” as the tank caves in on impact. But for a grazed forehead he appears all right, however “the shock up his legs strained a back muscle rather badly”. Harry immediately confirms that the engine ran full throttle during his attempt to regain control and simply blames himself for over-confidence. This is the second crash in the same machine in 5 weeks and is most probably the start of his serious back problems. There is clearly a lot still to be learned about flying safely.
The accident fuels the lively debate in the technical press over the pros and cons of introducing seat belt for pilots.
Sources:
1. De Maasbode 09-10-1913
2. https://www.kingstonaviation.org/sopwith-day-by-day/1913.html
3. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Visschedijk/10000.htm
4. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/harry-hawker
Media:
Sopwith Green Biplane on 30 August 1913:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Apr-2020 08:27 | Cobar | Added |
| 24-Nov-2020 18:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
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