Date:	Thursday 13 February 1947
Time:	11:00
Type:	Handley Page Halifax A Mk IX
Owner/operator:	47 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RT922
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Grindon Moor, 8 miles E of Leek, Staffordshire, West Midlands, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Halifax RT922: Written off (destroyed) 13.2.1947: Crashed on a mission to drop supplies at Grindon Moor, 8 miles East of Leek, Staffordshire. Attempted to make the drop twice, in a field with a cross of soot marking the spot, but poor weather meant they couldn't locate the drop zone. Getting lower at each attempt, the third ended in tragedy when the starboard wing clipped the ground causing the bomber to cartwheel across the field. Aircraft had a crew of six and two British journalists - all were killed:
Crew:
S/Ldr Donald "Don" McIntyre, pilot, RAF (33269) - killed
Flt/Lt Ernest Smith, navigator, RAFVR (164809) - killed
W/O Gordon Victor Chapman, bomb aimer, RAFVR (1803110) - killed
W/O Richard Sydney Kearns, Flt/Eng, RAFVR (3030875) - killed
F/Sgt Kenneth Charles Pettit, WOp RAFVR (1876996) - killed
Sgt William Thomas Sherry, AAC glider pilot, RAF (2078110) - killed
Passengers:
David William Savill (civilian journalist) - killed
Joseph John Reardon (civilian journalist) - killed

The above two persons were a reporter and photographer from the "Daily Herald" newspaper.

The subsequent Board of Inquiry reported that the pilot had been briefed not to fly lower that 1,500 feet amsl (above mean sea level) but the aircraft had descended to 1,238 feet amsl when it struck the ground with its starboard wingtip during a right-hand turn to reach the drop zone. In addition, the sortie should not have been attempted in the prevailing weather conditions. The crew had already been briefed pre-flight as to the expected weather conditions over the drop zone, but chose to fly the sortie regardless

At the instigation of the Leek Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA), the then Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, James Hawley, TD, JP, unveiled a Memorial Cairn on Grindon Moor in September 1999, at the location of the fatal crash.

The following is from a web-page of All Saints Church, Grindon:

"The winter of 1946/7 was one of the most severe in the last century. The Staffordshire Moorlands were particularly badly affected and villages were cut off for several weeks. A tragic accident occurred on 13 February 1947 when a Handley Page Halifax Bomber from 47 Squadron attempted to drop food supplies. It crashed on Grindon Moor killing the six crew and two press photographers on board. The pilot was Squadron Leader Donald McIntyre. A cairn marking the spot where the aeroplane crashed was unveiled on 28 September 1999. There are memorials in the church to those who died. One is a plaque made from pieces of metal salvaged from the crash site by members of the Pennine Aviation Museum Excavation Team in 1985. The tapestry on the West Wall was made by Andrew Barlow of the Leek Embroiderer's Guild in memory of those who lost their lives. In addition, there is a poem written by the son of the pilot, Grem McIntyre who was only two at the time of the accident. In recent years it has become the custom of those who live in the village to mark the anniversary of the crash by a service in the church followed by a walk to the cairn".

On 13.2.2017 - the 70th anniversary of the crash - a memorial service was held at All Saints Church, in Grindon. The service was conducted in the presence of the Bishop of Lichfield, the Right Reverend Michael Ipgrave. Joining the members of the Grindon congregation were HM Vice Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Graham Stow CBE, together with representatives from the current No 47 Squadron RAF.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.59. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.269-270
3. Daily Herald 14 February 1947
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. 47 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2418/1: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8419743
6. http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/handley-page-halifax-rt922-grindon-moor/
7. http://www.airfieldarchaeology.co.uk/grindon-moor.html
8. http://www.mycommunitystuff.com/grindon/grindon-air-disater/
9. http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/handley-page-halifax-amk9-rt922.html
10. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp71-halifax-ix-near-leek-8-killed
11. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/70th-anniversary-of-grindon-air-crash-to-be-held/story-30099117-detail/story.html
12. http://www.thornber.net/staffs/html/grindon.html
13. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/index.php?qname=&qcntry=United%20Kingdom&cur=0&qunit=&qnum=&qmem=&qdate=1947-02-13
14. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2702015/mcintyre,-donald-(don)/
15. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2702023/smith,-ernest/
16. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2733434/chapman,-gordon-victor/
17. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2436919/kearns,-richard-sydney/
18. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2764115/pettit,-kenneth-charles/
19. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2713412/sherry,-william-thomas/
20. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75452381/savill,-david-william/
21. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75452382/reardon,-joseph-john/
22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindon,_Staffordshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
26-Apr-2013 03:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
26-Apr-2013 03:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
22-Jan-2014 15:25	TB	Updated [Time, Operator, Phase, Nature, Embed code, Narrative]
12-Mar-2017 00:21	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
23-Dec-2017 19:25	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
28-Oct-2019 00:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
28-Oct-2019 00:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
21-May-2023 20:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source, Narrative]]
01-Dec-2023 11:41	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Narrative, Operator]