1929 Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 crash

1929 ditching into the English Channel July 2014 July 2014 1929 Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 crash Accident G-EBMT.jpg 250px G-EBMT, the Handley Page W.8 involved in the accident. 17 June 1929 Engine failure, ditching at sea English Channel, off Dungeness 50 45 00 N 1 07 0 E type:event inline,title Handley Page W.10 City of Ottawa Imperial Airways G-EBMT Croydon Airport, United Kingdom Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France Basle Airport, Switzerland Zurich Airport, Switzerland 11 2 6 7 6 The 1929 Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 crash happened on 17 June 1929 when Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT suffered an engine failure and subsequently ditched in the English Channel off Dungeness with the loss of seven lives. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled flight from Croydon to Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France. Aircraft The accident aircraft was Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT City of Ottawa, c/n W10-4. It had been delivered to Imperial Airways on 25 December 1925.http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-E3.htm Civil Aircraft Register – Great Britain Golden Years of Aviation 26 January 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100922103206/http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-E3.htm 22 September 2010 Accident G-EBMT was operating an international scheduled flight from Croydon Airport to Zurich Airport, SwitzerlandCross Channel Disaster Flight 20 June 1929 504 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929%20-%201280.html via Paris - Le Bourget Airport and Basel Airport, Switzerland.Channel Air Disaster 18 June 1929 16 45232 A, B Having departed from Croydon at 10:30, the aircraft was some 15 mi km out over the English Channel, flying at an altitude of 2500 ft m, when a connecting rod in the starboard engine broke. A mayday was broadcast by radio and the pilot attempted to divert to Lympne Airport. As he was unable to reach land, the pilot landed in the sea some 50 yd m on from the Belgian trawler Gaby, and 12 mi km offshore.Channel Air Disaster 19 June 1929 p16 45233 E The nose of the aircraft dived into the water on landing. The passengers at the front of the aircraft were thrown from their seats and trapped. Four passengers seated at the tail of the aircraft escaped, as did both crew. Gaby went to the aid of the stricken airliner and rescued the six survivors. The body of one of the victims was also recovered. They were transferred to the Dover pilot cutter which took them to Folkestone. The cutter entered Folkestone harbour at 2:45 pm flying the signal EDY, signifying that ambulances were required, and with her Red Ensign at half-mast. The injured survivors were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Folkestone. The body of the casualty was landed at Folkestone, but was later transferred to Lydd. Gaby recovered three further bodies that day. They were transferred to a motorboat owned by the Lydd postmaster and taken to a mortuary at Lydd. Gaby assisted in the salvage of the wreckage of G-EBMT.World Directory of Airliner Crashes Terry Denham Patrick Stephens Ltd Yeoford 10 1-85260-554-5 The wreckage was towed to Dungeness, where a search revealed only baggage and personal belongings of the passengers. Three victims were unaccounted for at that stage. An inquest was opened by the Lydd Coroner on 19 June at Lydd Town Hall into the deaths of the four victims whose bodies had been recovered. Evidence was given that the pilot, Captain BrailliAssociated Press, "Seven Die in Plane Crash in Britain", Winnipeg Evening Tribune, June 17, 1929, col. A, p. 1 was experienced, with 1,000 hours flying time. He had been in the employ of Imperial Airways for a year. The aircraft was shown to have been airworthy on departure from Croydon. The pilot had been the last survivor to leave the aircraft, at his insistence. All four victims had drowned. Verdicts of "accidental death" were returned in all cases.Channel Air Disaster 20 June 1929 13 45234 A, B Investigation The Air Ministry opened an investigation into the accident under the Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1922. The investigation opened on 25 June at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, with Sir Arthur Colefax in charge. The cause of the engine failure was the fracture of No. 4 connecting rod in the starboard engine. The engine had run for 126 hours since its last overhaul, with the permitted time between overhauls being 300 hours. The connecting rod had failed due to the failure of the big end bearing studs. The aircraft's Certificate of Airworthiness had last been renewed in November 1928 and was valid for a year. Its maximum permissible load was 2946 lb kg; the aircraft's load was 2494 lb kg on departure from Croydon. Evidence was given by three of the four surviving passengers and both crew. The fourth surviving passenger was not called as she was legally a minor at the time and had lost her father in the accident.Channel Air Disaster 26 June 1929 10 45239 A, B, C The inquiry closed on 3 July.The Channel Air Disaster 4 July 1929 11 45246 B Imperial Airways and Napier, the engine manufacturer, were cleared of any blame for the accident.Loss of "City of Ottawa" Flight 1 August 1929 840 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1929/1929-1%20-%200685.html The report into the investigation was published on 12 July. Among the recommendations were that passengers should be provided with seatbelts and that aircraft not capable of maintaining level flight with an inoperative engine and not designed to land on water should be withdrawn from continental routes after 1 July 1930.The Channel Disaster – Air Ministry Report Flight 1 August 1929 835–36, 839 (p835, p836, p839) Casualties The nationalities of the casualties were - Nationality Crew Passengers Killed InjuredEnglish 2 6 3 5American – 2 1 1Australian – 1 1 –Canadian – 1 1 –French – 1 1 – Total 2 11 7 6 References External links Photo of the wreck of G-EBMT alongside trawler Gaby 1929 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1929 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Kent Category:Folkestone Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving ditching Category:History of the English Channel Category:Imperial Airways accidents and incidents Category:1929 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:June 1929 in the United Kingdom