ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 68561
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| Date: | Monday 7 October 1935 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Bristol Bulldog Mk IIA |
| Owner/operator: | 32 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | K2171 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Southampton Water, off Calshot, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire |
| RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K2171 of 32 Squadron, RAF Biggin Hill: Written off (destroyed) 7/10/35 when lost a wing on recovery from a dive during ferry flight, crashing into the sea at Southampton Water, off Calshot, Hampshire. It is believed that fog hid the water from the pilot, leading to a misjudgement by the pilot as to his altitude above the sea. Pilot: Pilot Officer Haldane Georgeson RAF (aged 21, and a New Zealand national) killed. According to the following contemporary newspaper report ("Western Daily Press" - Thursday 10 October 1935):
GRAPHIC STORY OF PILOT'S "GOOD-BYE" DIVE
FATAL ERROR OF JUDGEMENT DIVING OVER SOLENT
Fellow Pilot's Theory in Sea Crash
SPLASH SEEN FROM 3,500 FEET
A fellow-pilot giving evidence at the inquest at Calshot, yesterday, on Pilot Officer Haldane Georgeson, the 21-year-old New Zealand airman who was killed when his 'plane, a Bristol Bulldog, dived into the sea off the Calshot air base, on Monday, suggested that Georgeson had dived over the base to say "Good-bye" before returning to his station at Biggin Hill from Lee-on-Solent, where he had been on leave.
The witness, Pilot Officer Pawson, also stationed at Biggin Hill, said that he and Georgeson had been on a friendly visit to Lee-on-Solent. On Monday morning they left to return, and were flying towards Calshot. He did not actually see Georgeson dive, but saw a white patch on the water 3,500 feet below, which was the foam of the splash made by the machine as it entered the water. There was no need for Georgeson to have dived over Calshot. It was not part of his ordinary routine and witness thought that he probably did it to say "Good-bye."
A look-out who saw the crash said that there was a haze, and at 2,000 feet the surface of the sea would be almost invisible. He thought that the pilot suddenly saw it and flattened out. Doing that at a great speed would impose a heavy strain on the wings, and something in the bracing must have collapsed.
The coroner, expressing the opinion that the accident was due to an error of judgement on the pilot's part, recorded the jury's verdict of death from misadventure."
Sources:
1. Air-Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
3. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17884-RAF-fatalities-1935
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13217.0
5. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (Newcastle, NSW) Wednesday 9 October 1935 Page 8 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/139793630/15224937
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Oct-2009 15:07 | JINX | Added |
| 26-Jan-2012 14:46 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Jul-2013 18:30 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Nov-2016 13:28 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Mar-2018 16:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date] |
| 06-Apr-2018 00:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Apr-2018 00:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Nov-2018 18:05 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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