1934 London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Airspeed Courier crash

1934 crash caused by pilot error May 2020 1934 London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Airspeed Courier crash Accident Airspeed AS5.jpg 250 Photograph of an Airspeed Courier An Airspeed Courier, similar to the accident aircraft. 29 September 1934. Pilot error (loss of control due to disorientation in cloud) Timberden Bottom, Shoreham, Kent, United Kingdom. Airspeed Courier. London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Ltd. G-ACSY Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex, United Kingdom. Le Bourget Airport, Paris France. 3 1 2 (on ground) 4 0 On 29 September 1934, an Airspeed Courier of London, Scottish & Provincial Airways Ltd crashed just north of Shoreham, Kent. The aircraft was on a scheduled international passenger flight from Heston Aerodrome west of London to Le Bourget Airport, Paris. All four people on board were killed. Two people were injured by flying debris. Aircraft The accident aircraft was Airspeed Courier G-ACSY, c/n 16. The aircraft had been registered on 17 May 1934,http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-A5.htm Civil Aircraft Register - Great Britain, Page 6 Golden Years of Aviation 3 June 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20111003081759/http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_G-A5.htm 3 October 2011 The aircraft was on loan from Airspeed.Heston Flight 30 August 1934 907 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1934/1934%20-%200905.html Accident The aircraft took off from Hounslow Aerodrome at around 17:00 on a scheduled international passenger flight to Le Bourget Airport, Paris France.Ingleton 2010 110–12 It flew into an isolated storm over north west Kent.Four Killed in Air Crash 1 October 1934 19 46873 G An eyewitness reported seeing the aircraft emerge from the clouds in a vertical dive. The cloudbase was at an altitude of 1200 ft m and the hills around Shoreham reached an elevation of 600 ft m. The aircraft crashed just north of Shoreham in Timberden Bottom, at the bottom of Cockerhurst Road.http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/air_crash_mystery_1_598760 Air crash mystery 4 June 2009 Eastern Daily Press dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140422184140/https://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/air_crash_mystery_1_598760 22 April 2014 All four people on board were killed,Ingleton 2010 110–12 Two women walking in the vicinity of the accident were injured when they were struck by flying debris. Some parts of the aircraft were found 66 ft m to the south west and 100 ft m west of the main wreckage. An eyewitness stated that he thought the pilot may have stalled trying to avoid high tension power lines.The Shoreham Accident Flight 4 October 1934 1025 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1934/1934%20-%201023.html An inquest into the accident was held at Sevenoaks on 2 October. The victims were identified by documentation and personal belongings as they had received injuries which made visual identification "extremely difficult, if not impossible".August 2011 Evidence was given that the aircraft was not operating anywhere near its maximum take-off weight of 4000 lb kg and that it had been airworthy on departure from Heston. The pilot, Ronald Smith (26) from Ealing, was an experienced former Royal Air Force pilot. He had 1,500 hours flying time, of which 150 hours were on the Heston-Paris route.Kent Air Crash Inquest 3 October 1934 9 46875 D A memorial cross was installed near the crash site on Cockerhurst Road but after it was vandalised it was removed to Shoreham churchyard, by the north west corner of the tower. References Sources Roy Ingleton Kent Disasters 2010 Pen & Sword Barnsley 978-1-84563-116-1 51 20 32 N 0 10 30 E type:event_region:GB-KEN title Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1934 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Kent Category:1934 in England Category:1934 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:September 1934 in the United Kingdom