ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 30898
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| Date: | Saturday 14 June 1947 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Miles M.57 Aerovan 4 |
| Owner/operator: | North Sea Air Transport Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AISG |
| MSN: | 6405 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR) |
| Guernsey Airport, Guernsey, Channel Islands (GCI/EGJB) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First civil registered (C of R 1927/1; C of A 8871) on 9 December 1946 to North Sea Air Transport Ltd., Hanworth Aerodrome, Feltham, Middlesex.
Written off 14 June 1947: Stalled and crashed on take-off from Croydon Airport, Surrey on with a load of 604 racing pigeons and two passengers aboard. One person (the pilot) was killed. The Aerovan was carrying 26 crates of racing pigeons. These weighed 1040 lb. It was also carrying one passenger, in addition to its crew of two, some baggage and a number of lead feeding troughs. The total weight was 446 lb over its permitted maximum. Furthermore Capt. Kerr was not an experienced Aerovan pilot. He took off normally, using only half the available runway, and climbed normally to 100 ft. but as he crossed the aerodrome boundary, the Aerovan was flying in a tail down attitude and failing to gain height. He managed to clear trees, to the east of the aerodrome, before entering a descending turn to port until the port wing came into contact with a tree and the Aerovan crashed to the ground. As mentioned above, the AAIB investigated the accident and published a report. That expressed the opinion that Capt. Kerr was responsible for an error of flying technique, the result being that he climbed too steeply, lost height and crashed from a semi-stalled attitude. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Western Daily Press" - Monday 16 June 1947)
"BOURNEMOUTH 'PLANE PILOT DIES
Captain Malcolm Kerr, pilot of a transport 'plane which crashed after taking off from Croydon on Saturday, died during Saturday night in Croydon General Hospital. Capt. Kerr, who lived at Manor Road, Bournemouth, was flying to Guernsey with a cargo of pigeons for a pigeon race. Mr O. T. Murphy, wireless operator, and Mr William Irving, in charge of the pigeons, are still in Croydon General Hospital. They were stated yesterday to be fairly comfortable."
Another contemporary newspaper focuses on the fate of the pigeons on board ("Daily Herald" - Monday 16 June 1947)
"Reported missing
SOME of the pigeons that escaped when an aircraft, carrying 500 racing birds from Croydon to Guernsey, crashed after take-off on Saturday have returned to their base in Lancashire; the rest were yesterday reported still missing. Others have been sent back by rail. The pilot, Captain Malcolm Kerr, of Bournemouth, died in Croydon hospital yesterday."
Registration G-AISW cancelled by the Secretary of State, Air Ministry, 9 December 1947 as "Crashed"
Sources:
1. Western Daily Press - Monday 16 June 1947
2. Daily Herald - Monday 16 June 1947
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 217/1925: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576079
4. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/394321-croydon-aerodrome-air-safety-2.html
5. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AISG.pdf
6. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15742.0;wap2
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-miles-m57-aerovan-iv-croydon-1-killed
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon_Airport#Post-war_developments_and_final_closure
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 04-Dec-2012 13:12 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Other fatalities, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 08-Dec-2012 10:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Dec-2012 12:00 | TB | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Apr-2013 06:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Jan-2014 17:40 | TB | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 27-Nov-2019 19:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Nov-2019 19:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 05-Mar-2020 20:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 28-Dec-2020 20:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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