Date:	Sunday 16 September 1956
Time:	day
Type:	Bristol 173 Mk 2
Owner/operator:	Bristol Aeroplane Co
Registration:	G-AMJI
MSN:	12872
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire (FZO/EGTG)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The second Bristol Type 173 was designated Type 173 Mk 2 and was allocated military serial XH379. It first flew on 31 August 1953, and had a revised landing gear, with castoring front wheels and fixed rear wheels. It was also fitted with small stub wings at the front and rear to improve the cruise speed, the stub wings being removed after a few flights when the helicopter was used for Naval trials, and a horizontal tailplane was added. As a result of the trials the Royal Navy showed an interest in ordering the type for carrier duties. In August 1956 the second prototype was leased to British European Airways for evaluation.

The Mk 2 aircraft was destroyed in an accident during an air show at Filton in September 1956. The helicopter crashed into the ground nose first while making the transition from hover to forward flight. The crew of two - one of which was the pilot, Bristol Test Pilot Charles Thomas Dennehy "Sox" Hosegood - escaped unharmed but the aircraft was written off. According to one source, the Bristol 173 was hit by the "wake turbulence" from a passing Blackburn Beverley.After the crash the tailplane was salvaged from the Mk 2 and fitted to the Mk 1 to investigate the best configuration for stability.

Bristol 173 Mk.2 was first civil registered on 5/6/51 (C of R R.3281/1) to the Secretary of State Ministry of Supply, London SW1 as G-AMJI. Civil registration cancelled 9/9/54 as "allocated to military role as XH379". Civilian registration G-AMJI restored 11/9/56 (just five days before the above accident) (C of R R.3281/2) once more to the Secretary of State, Ministry of Supply, London W1.

Registration G-AMJI cancelled for the second and final time on 22/4/58 (some 18 months later) as "permanently withdrawn from use". In fact the wreckage of G-AMJI/XH379 was taken to the Bristol Aircraft Co facility at Old Mixon, Weston-Super Mare, where it was scrapped in 1957 after completion of accident investigation procedures.

A Navalised version of the Bristol 173, designated Bristol Type 191 (with Napier Gazelle turboprop engines and four bladed rotors) was placed on order in April 1954 (as Contract 6/Acft/101838) for 65 aircraft as XG354-XG398 and XG419-XG441 (c/nos. 13277 to 13341 inclusive). Only the first three were built, and none of them ever flew. The 26 aircraft ordered at the same time for the RAF as XG447-XG468 and XG473-XG476 were built as the Belvedere HC.1 which served with the RAF from 1960 to 1969.

1. Barnes, C. H. (1988) Bristol Aircraft since 1910 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-851778232 p.366-372
2. Jackson, A. J. (1973). British Civil Aircraft Since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370100069 pp.260-263 and p.528.
3. "Bristol 192, Europe's Largest Military Helicopter". Flight International. 74 (2584): p.170, 1 August 1958
4. "Leonides Majors in Bristol 173" Flight 16 November 1956 p.775
5. Weston-Super-Mare and the Aeroplane By Roger Dudley, Ted Johnson
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 65/1311: Bristol 173 helicopters: design and performance - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C490996
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 65/4: Bristol 191 (navalised Bristol 173) rotary wing aircraft: finance and policy - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C489689
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Type_173#Design_and_development
9. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AMJI.pdf
10. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/naval-obituaries/10808924/Lt-Charles-Sox-Hosegood-obituary.html
11. http://www.filton.flyer.co.uk/bristol/prod173.html
12. http://www.transportarchive.org.uk/getobject.php?rnum=G2382&searchitem=type%20173&mtv=G1&pnum=1
13. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=XH

Bristol Type 173 Mk.2 XH379/G-AMJI displaying at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1954:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Aug-2010 16:10	TB	Added
08-Aug-2010 09:39	TB	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
26-Nov-2012 17:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
04-Feb-2014 16:58	TB	Updated [Total occupants, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
04-Feb-2014 17:00	TB	Updated [Narrative]
11-Jul-2020 18:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
11-Jul-2020 18:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Source]
11-Jul-2020 19:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative]
11-Jul-2020 21:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
12-Jul-2020 19:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]