ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 68527
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| Date: | Monday 4 December 1933 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Bristol Bulldog Mk IIA |
| Owner/operator: | 17 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | K1654 |
| MSN: | 8511 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Milton Lilbourne, near Pewsey, Wiltshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Upavon, Wiltshire |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K1654, 17 Squadron, RAF Upavon: Collided with Bulldog K1659 during combat practice & crashed, Milton Lilbourne, near Pewsey, Wiltshire (at approximate co ordinates 51.342°N 1.729°W). Both pilots in both aircraft were killed:
Pilot Officer Griffith Owen Llewellyn (aged 21) killed
Sgt John Cyril Hopkins (Service Number 363428, aged 27) killed
However, it is not clear which pilot was in which aircraft. According to a contemporary newspaper report into the accident ("Aberdeen Journal" Tuesday, 5th December 1933):
"TWO R.A.F. PILOTS KILLED;
PLANE BURST INTO FLAMES
Two R.A.F. pilots were killed at Milton Lilbourne, near Pewsey, Wilts., yesterday, when their machines collided in mid-air and, according to an eye witness, immediately burst into flames. The victims were:-
Pilot Officer Griffith Owen Llewellyn
Sergeant John Cyril Hopkins
They were flying single-seater Bulldog machines belonging to No. 17 Fighter Squadron, Upavon. One pilot was burned beyond recognition. The other was killed after apparently having tried to escape by means of his parachute.
SAW SOMETHING DROP
An eye witness said that when he saw the aeroplanes first before they crashed, they were not flying high. After they collided, they immediately burst into flames and he saw something drop from one of them. He could not say what it was, but it might have been one of the pilots. After the machines had crashed to earth, only the tail of one could be recognized. Of the other, there was only a wheel left. The wing of one machine was found some distance away.
This is the thirty-sixth R.A.F. fatal accident this year, resulting in fifty deaths. Last year the death toll in thirty-five accidents was fifty-three."
Sources:
1. Air Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s
2. Aberdeen Journal" Tuesday, 5th December 1933 at http://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Milton%20Lilbourne/Milton%20Lilbourne%20-%20R.%20A.%20F.%20Fatal%20Crash%201933.pdf
3. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17674-RAF-Fatalities-1933
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Lilbourne
6. http://www.thepeerage.com/p9657.htm#i96562
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Oct-2009 07:18 | JINX | Added |
| 21-May-2018 14:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-May-2018 14:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Narrative] |
| 01-Nov-2018 16:32 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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