ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 25912
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| Date: | Tuesday 20 July 1948 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax C.8 |
| Owner/operator: | Mayflower Air Services |
| Registration: | G-AJPJ |
| MSN: | 1336 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lydda (Lod) Airport, near Tel Aviv -
 Israel
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Illegal Flight |
| Departure airport: | White Waltham, Maidenhead, Berkshire (EGLM) |
| Lydda (Lod) Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV/LLBG) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ex-RAF Halifax C.VIII PP262: first civil registered as G-AJPJ on 26.4.1947 to Chartair Ltd, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex (C of A 9369). Sold on and re-regsitered to British American Air Services Ltd., Bovingdon, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire on 17,7,1947. The demise of this aircraft was under somewhat clandestine circumstances, and there are varying accounts as to what happened and when. However, according to one published source (see link #3)
"During 1948, the Jewish military arm, the Hagana, were using several light aircraft, such as Austers, for bombing and other duties in their fight for independence. Although these small aircraft were doing invaluable work, it was obvious that bigger aircraft were needed for transport and combat, so several agents were sent around to Europe to procure more appropriate types.
The hardest part of this was not the procurement, but the transportation of the guns, aircraft, and ammunition to Israel. Following an abortive attempt to take them by sea, John Harvey, a British-born Israeli, chartered a friends Halifax, which co-incidentally had once belonged to British American Air Services. G-AJPJ’s flight from White Waltham on 20th July 1948 went smoothly, until it tried to land at Ekron air base, where unfortunately, the landing lights had failed.
Diverting to Tel Aviv, and after a double engine failure, the Halifax stalled and crashed short of the runway and overturned. All three crew members were unhurt, while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. It appears that two engines were inoperative at the time of the accident, maybe following fuel starvation. The aircraft was loaded with a cargo of spares, engines and tools for six Ex-RAF Bristol Beaufighters that had been bought, supposedly for "filming purposes", but which left Haddenham Airfield on 28.5.1948 and turned up in Israel"
Israeli authorities reported that the aircraft was on a delivery flight from the UK, and that neither the crew nor the operator received any permission to land in Israel". Hence, due to this, plus the fact that the registration had lapsed three days earlier, the flight could be described as "illegal"
The Air Ministry records for this period do not exactly match the real-life events: The registration was initially cancelled by the Air Ministry on 17.7.1947. It was re-registered to British American Air Services Ltd on 29.7.1947. The registration G-AJPJ was finally cancelled by the Air Ministry one year later, 17.7.1948 (three days BEFORE it flew to Israel...) as "sold and registration lapsed, crashed whilst un-registered". At no time was G-AJPJ ever officially registered to "Mayflower Air Services", which may have been simply a "made up" owner covering the three days (17-20.7.1948) when it was being ferried from the UK to Israel.
Sources:
1. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp70-halifax-viii-lod
2. http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AJPJ.pdf
3. http://www.haddenhamairfieldhistory.co.uk/beaufighters.htm
4. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?55447-Halifax-C-VIII-PP263-gt-G-AJPJ&highlight=G-AJPJ
5. http://saadonline.uk/archives/911
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 22-Jan-2010 23:19 | John Baker | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Jun-2010 12:07 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 04-Dec-2012 16:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Jan-2014 19:18 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Jan-2014 16:36 | TB | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2017 19:15 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2017 19:16 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2017 19:19 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 29-Oct-2019 00:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Oct-2019 00:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source] |
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