Date:	Friday 29 December 1950
Time:	13:30
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Met 6
Owner/operator:	202 Sqn RAF
Registration:	ST798
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	15 miles SSE of Barra Head, Hebrides Islands -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Survey
Departure airport:	RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland (BFS/EGAA)
Destination airport:	RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland (BFS/EGAA)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The crew left Belfast-Aldergrove Airport to perform a BISMUTH meteorological recce mission over the North Atlantic on 29 December 1950. While cruising southeast of the Hebrides Islands, the four engine aircraft went out of control and crashed into the sea about 24 km (15 miles) south-southeast of Barra Head. (One source gives the location as 56'33.00" North, 07'26.00" West). Search And Rescue operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.

The cause of the crash could not be determined but some reports suggested the Halifax was on fire before impact.

On 16 January 1951, a trawler "The Milford Countess" under the command of Mr W. Clark of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire recovered Squadron Leader Cox's body in Castle Bay 20 miles off Barra Head together with a small amount of wreckage but the other crew were not found. Eight crew were killed:

Squadron Leader Terence Anthony Cox, DSO, DFC (Service Number 39304)(Pilot)
Pilot Officer Donald Nattriss (Service Number 2607764)(Co-Pilot)
Sergeant Edward Arthur Keeble
Sergeant John Frederick Stanley Black
Flight Sergeant John Henry Cobbold
Sergeant William Richard Martindale (Service Number 1504469)(Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Stuart Gordon Purches
Sergeant Gerald William Walklate (aged 20)

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.109 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.102
4. 202 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for December 1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2457/126 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8421755
5. http://www.12oclockhigh.net/archive/php?t-13598 (circumstances, crew list)
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1133-Halifax-Ditching-202-Sq-Off-Western-Isles
7. http://www.fleetwood-trawlers.info/index.php/tag/castle/page/12/
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp63-halifax-met6-barra-head-8-killed
9. http://rafforum.activeboard.com/t50485528/29th-december-1950-handley-page-halifax-st798-outer-hebrides/?w_r=1361966400
10. http://www.offscotland.plus.com/book/app047.html
11. https://www.cobboldfht.com/app-data/news_docs_uploads/2017-02-23-1041a16ee9139aa8ed79727b65c5aaf56e0f-Cobbwebs194.pdf
12. https://family-tree.cobboldfht.com/people/view/5218

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
03-Jun-2010 13:26	TB	Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Narrative]
07-Jun-2010 00:38	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2010 01:17	TB	Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2010 01:29	TB	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source]
08-Jun-2010 10:12	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Source]
10-Mar-2013 19:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
30-Oct-2019 22:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
06-Jan-2021 22:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Jan-2021 14:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]