Date:	Sunday 7 July 1963
Time:	day
Type:	Miles M.38 Messenger 2A
Owner/operator:	George Francis Gibson (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-AJFC
MSN:	6349
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bognor Regis Grammar School, Bognor Regis, West Sussex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Sandown Airport, Sandown, Isle of Wight (EGHN)
Destination airport:	Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
c/n 6349: G-AJFC Messenger Mk.2A (155 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major III) with oval rear windows. Miles records state: No.22. Date delivered 26.3.47 at a gross cost of £2,875. Nil deposit but £287 10s. discount given. Net balance £2,587 10s. paid 28.3.47. Application for C of A and registration made as a Messenger (no Mark given) by Miles Aircraft Ltd., in February 1947. Registered G-AJFC to Miles Aircraft Ltd, Woodley 7.2.47 with C of R No.11242 and C of A No.9023 issued 14.3.47.

Cancelled and re-registered (C of R 11242/2 later R 2255/2) on 23.3.47 to T Shipside Ltd., Tollerton. New C of A A 2255 issued at this time. Cancelled 14.10.52 and re-registered (C of R 2255/3) on 4.11.52 to Derek Crouch (Contractors) Ltd., Peterborough.

Damaged tail wheel and rear fuselage landing at Bordeaux/Merignac 4.7.55, repaired locally. Cancelled 30.8.60 and re-registered (C of R R 2255/4) 1.9.60 to George Francis Gibson, High Wycombe; aircraft based at Booker

On 7.7.63: Written off (damaged beyond repair) in a flying accident. During a flight from Sandown, Isle of Wight, to Shoreham, West Sussex, the engine began to run very roughly when the aircraft was about 1/2 mile from the shore near Bognor Regis and at a height of about 1,000 ft. The pilot turned towards the shore and decided to make a forced landing onto a large playing field at Bognor Regis Grammar School. The landing was made successfully but the aircraft over-ran a deep ditch in the middle of the field and the starboard wheel was torn off. As a result, the aircraft swung through 180 degrees and was severely damaged. According to Peter Amos (Miles Aircraft - the Post-War Years) the pilot of G-AJFC was Mr George F. Gibson. There was a brief report in a contemporary newspaper ("Daily Herald" - Monday 8 July 1963):

"Plane crash-lands in playing field
The engine of a light plane flying from Sandown, Isle of Wight, to Shoreham, Sussex, failed yesterday over the English Channel.

The pilot. Mr. George Gibson, aged 43, from High Wycombe, Bucks, safely crash-landed in a playing held at Bognor Regis, narrowly missing a housing estate"

On 9.11.63: Registration G-AJFC finally cancelled as "destroyed"

1. Survey of accidents to aircraft in the United Kingdom 1963 / CAA
2. "Daily Herald" - Monday 8 July 1963
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJFC-1.pdf
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJFC-2.pdf
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15738.0
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_2001.pdf
7. G-AJFC at Blackbushe, Hampshire 5-11-61: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1055784/
8. G-AJFC at Eastleigh, Hampshire 11-5-62: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1597114
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Regis_School

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jul-2009 01:28	VHKDK	Added
15-Oct-2009 10:41	andrewaircraft	Updated
03-Dec-2012 16:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
27-May-2015 16:55	harro	Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Mar-2020 19:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Jun-2021 21:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
29-Sep-2022 01:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
01-Oct-2022 19:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]