Date:	Tuesday 26 July 1932
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.60G Moth
Owner/operator:	Skegness Aero Club
Registration:	G-AAKM
MSN:	1142
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Littleport, near Ely, Cambridgeshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Parachuting
Departure airport:	Skegness, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	Teversham, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
c/no. 1142 DH.60G [Gipsy I #625] registered G-AAKM [C of R 2102] 7.29 to The de Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd, Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex; operated by DeHavilland School of Flying (based at Star Lane, then Hatfield, Hertfordshire with effect from 6.30). C of A 2151 issued 2.8.29. Registered [C of R 2978] 1.31 to Cinque Ports Flying Club Ltd, Lympne, Kent (delivered 31.1.31). Cinque Ports Flying Club closed 31.12.31 and business and assets were bought by Brooklands Aviation Ltd, who continued club flying at Lympne.

Crashed at Iden, near Rye, East Sussex 7.1.32; repaired & C of A renewed 24.2.32. Re-registered [C of R 3622] in 2.32 to Eastern Air Transport Ltd, Staines, Middlesex & operated by Skegness Aero Club, Skegness, Lincolnshire (renamed Skegness & East Lincolnshire Aero Club by 1.33).

Badly damaged when crashed after parachute fouled the tailplane at Littleport, near Ely, Cambridgeshire 26.7.32; parachutist R E Hopkins killed, pilot Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey Roger Cole Spencer seriously injured. As reported in a contemporary newspaper (King Country Chronicle, 28 July 1932, Page 5 - see link #2)

"PARACHUTIST KILLED
BEFORE 5000 PEOPLE.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
(Press Association Copyright.) (Received 10.45 a.m.)
London, July 27.
Five thousand people watching a parachute demonstration at Littleport saw a Birmingham parachutist. R. Hopkins, jump from the wing of a plane 500 feet up. The parachute became entangled in the elevator, and Hopkins hung suspended from the aeroplane's tail while the pilot vainly tried to regain control. The machine nose-dived 100 feet from the ground and crashed. Hopkins was killed and the pilot is in a critical condition".

Littleport is a village in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Ely and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fen.

Rebuilt and C of A renewed 7.11.34. Registration G-AAKM cancelled 11.34 as 'sold abroad'. Delivered 25.11.34 and registered in Ireland as EI-ABB 1.3.35 to Miss Ruth Hallinan; operated by Cork Aero Club, Fermoy (replacement for EI-ABA). Registration EI-ABB cancelled 9.4.37. Already returned to England 7.4.37 (two days earlier)

Registration G-AAKM [C of R 7874] restored 7.6.37 to London Air Park Flying Club Ltd, Hanworth. C of A renewed 7.6.37. Re-registered [C of R 7995] 14.7.37 to Sir Charles Arthur Wrench, Southwark, London SE1 (although aircraft was based at Hanworth. Middlesex). Registration cancelled and re-registered 26.12.40 to W S Shackleton Ltd, Piccadilly, London SW1 (aircraft still based at Hanworth). Registration G-AAKM cancelled 31.12.40 as 'sold abroad'.

Shipped to India and registered as VT-APU 5.6.41 to Madras Flying Club, Madras, India. Impressed into military service as MA953 10.9.42. Reported as registration restored to VT-APU 21.4.43 to Government of India, Madras until 4.12.43. Restored to military service as MA953. Struck off charge 28.8.47.

1. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/14/C223: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576691
2. King Country Chronicle, 28 July 1932, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19320728.2.24
3. Adelaide News (Adelaide, SA) Thursday 28 July 1932 Page 1: Parachutist Hangs from Plane and Killed: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128950411
4. Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette (Toowoomba, Qld.) Thursday 28 July 1932 Page 5 - FATAL LEAP: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254272138
5. As G-AAKM: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFha20iXQ==
6. As VT-APU: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-india-register/vt-ain-to-vt-ath?highlight=WyJnLWFha20iXQ==
7. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AAKM.pdf
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_EI-.html
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_VT-1.html
11. https://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Spencer_GRC.htm
12. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
13. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p011.html
14. [photo of wreckage]: https://www.littleportsociety.org.uk/catalogue/index.php/Detail/objects/1234
15. [photo of wreckage]: https://www.littleportsociety.org.uk/catalogue/index.php/Detail/objects/530
16. [photo of wreckage]: https://www.littleportsociety.org.uk/catalogue/index.php/Detail/objects/1215
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littleport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Nov-2023 07:25	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Jan-2024 20:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]