ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 312461
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| Date: | Wednesday 16 July 1947 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Slingsby T.8 Cadet TX Mk 2 |
| Owner/operator: | 203 GS ATC RAF |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Downhill Gliding Site, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Downhill Gliding Site, Coleraine, County Londonderry |
Slingsby T.8 Cadet TX Mk.2, 203 EGS (Elementary Gliding School) ATC, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16 July 1947 shortly after takeoff from the Downhill Gliding Site, Coleraine, County Londonderry. Pilot killed.
The pilot, an instructor with the Gliding School, took off in the late evening on a training flight in preparation for his ‘C’ Certificate. The aircraft was seen by the school's chief instructor for several minutes, about 300 feet above some cliffs but then it disappeared from view. When it was realised that the aircraft had crashed, a rescue attempt was mounted, involving first, an officer and later a civilian, both of whom were lowered into a gulley in the cliffs. The officer extracted the pilot from the aircraft but was then injured during the attempt to hoist the casualty out of the gully. The civilian became trapped whilst attempting a second rescue but by this stage, the pilot had died. The two rescuers; Flying Officer Victor McNabney and Mr Patrick Corr, were forced to spend the night in the gulley. Both men were awarded the George Medal for their attempts to rescue the pilot and the citations for their awards are below:
"Flying Officer Victor McNabey RAFVR, 203 Gliding School Air Training Corps London Gazette 9 December 1947
On 16 July 1947, a glider piloted by Mr R A Glass, an instructor attached to 203 Gliding School, crashed on a hillside in an inaccessible part of the Downhill Gliding site near Coleraine Northern Ireland, seriously injuring the pilot. In the early stages of the rescue work the main rescue party, which included Flying Officer McNabey could not approach the wreckage beyond a point about 50 feet above it. Flying Officer McNabey was lowered by a rope to the wreck where he made the pilot comfortable. The rope was then used in an attempt to lift Mr Glass up to the main party. Whilst this was in progress, Flying Officer McNabey climbed up in the darkness alongside Mr Glass, who was unconscious, shielding him from bruising and holding him out of the stream of the waterfall. After 30 feet of this climb had been achieved, further rescue gear became available. When attempting to adjust this on Mr Glass, Flying Officer McNabey fell back to the ledge where he lay unconscious for approximately 30 minutes. Had he landed a few feet away he would have fallen a further 300 feet on one side or into the path of the waterfall on the other, where he might have been drowned whilst unconscious. When Flying Officer McNabey regained consciousness Mr Glass was dead and no further help could be given to either of them. Flying Officer McNabey was stranded on the ledge washed by the waterfall until rescued the next morning.
Patrick Corr Potato Inspector, Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland London Gazette 23 December 1947
A glider crashed on a hillside in an inaccessible part of the Downhill Gliding site near Coleraine and the pilot was seriously injured. The main rescue party was unable to approach nearer to the wreck than a point 50 feet above it. An attempt was made to reach the pilot with ropes but the tackle broke and the rescuer fell 30 feet to a ledge below, which was only a few feet from the edge of a precipice on the one side and a waterfall on the other. Although fully aware of this accident and of the dangers involved in climbing the chat night, Patrick Corr without hesitation, volunteered to be lowered to the rescue of the two men. He showed courage without thought for himself, well knowing that the rope might not hold. The rope broke and Corr fell to a ledge washed by the waterfall where he was stranded until the following morning.
Cadet Raymond Alan GLASS Air Training Corps (Pilot, aged 19) - killed 16-7-47, buried at Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Sources:
1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.321
2. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/atc-glider-crash-downhill-co-londonderry-16th-july-1947.87616/
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184308418/raymond-alan-glass
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Royal_Air_Force_Glider_units#200-700
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_Kirby_Tutor
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleraine
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-May-2023 22:05 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-May-2023 22:06 | Dr. John Smith | Updated |
| 13-May-2023 08:09 | Nepa | Updated |
| 27-Sep-2023 08:12 | harro | Updated |
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