1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash

Aviation accident in England May 2011 June 2021 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash 15 November 1957 Short Solent 3 - G-AKNU Sydney - Aquila Airways - Funchal.jpg Aquila Airways Short Solent G-AKNU Engine stoppage Accident Near Chessell, Isle of Wight, England 50.6681 N 1.4435 W dms inline,title region:GB_type:event yes 45 Short Solent 3 Aquila Airways Southampton Water G-AKNU City of Sidney 50 8 13 The 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash occurred on the Isle of Wight in England on 15 November. With 45 lives lost, at the time it was the second worst aircraft accident within the United Kingdom, then at the time the worst ever air disaster to occur on English soil until it was superseded by the Stockport air disaster, in 1967.19571115-1 Accident sequence The aircraft, an Aquila Airways Short Solent 3 flying boat named the City of Sydney, registered G-AKNU, departed Southampton Water at 22:46 on a night flight to Las Palmas and Madeira via Lisbon. At 22:54, the crew radioed to report that the number 4 propeller had been feathered (No. 4 engine feathered. Coming back in a hurry.https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958-1-_-_0204.html Flight Solent Accident Report 8 August 1958 208 https://web.archive.org/web/20121012001413/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1958/1958-1-_-_0204.html 12 October 2012 – brief summary of accident report ). During an attempt to return, the Solent crashed into a disused chalk pit adjacent to heavily forested downland. The crash site is on a steep eastern slope of Shalcombe Down, above the small villages of Chessell and Shalcombe. At the time of impact, the plane was banked 45 degrees to the right, the same side of the aircraft that had lost all engine power according to the accident report. The aircraft caught fire on impact. However, three soldiers on a night-exercise were close by when the crash happened and were on the scene within minutes; they managed to rescue some of the survivors from the burning wreckage, suffering burns as they did so.45 Dead in Flying Boat Crash The Times 1957-11-18 London 12 54001 Except for the tail, the aircraft was destroyed. Of the 58 on board, 45 were killed and 13 injured.Flight, 22 November 1957, p. 793 Initially 43 perished, but two more later succumbed to their injuries.Memorial to island plane crash, BBC, 12 October 2008 In the days following, the crash-site became a scene of morbid interest and crowds of people came to see it; a police presence was required to keep them at distance. Possible causes A public inquiry by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Ministry of Transporthttp://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/import/uploads/2017/08/G-AKNU.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20210618200316/https://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/import/uploads/2017/08/G-AKNU.pdf 18 June 2021 live Aquilla Airways, Ltd., Short Solent Flying Boat, G-AKNU, crashed between Chessel and Brook on the Isle of Wight, on November 1957. Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (UK) CAP 149 54 11-page extract from ICAO Circular 56-AN/51 (p.227-237), hosted by baaa-acro.com (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives) concluded that the essential cause remains unknown. The accident was caused by the stoppage of the No.3 engine while the No.4 engine was also stopped. What caused the initial failure of the No.4 engine is unknown. The cause of the subsequent number 3 engine stoppage was either an electrical failure in the fuel cutoff actuator circuit or the accidental operation of the cutoff switch. Legacy right|thumb|The crash site in 2007. Visible to the left, as a scar on the forested slope of Shalcombe Down, is the disused chalk pit where the aircraft crashed The soldiers who rescued crash survivors later received awards for their actions; Major W.J.F. Weller and Lieutenant J.R. Sherbourn were made Members of the Order of the British Empire, Company quartermaster sergeant J.W. Reid, was awarded the British Empire Medal.Air Crash Rescue Awards The Times 1958-11-17 London 12 54310 Aquila Airways, after operating for 10 years announced in July 1958 it would cease operations, nine months after the crash.Aquila Airways To Cease Operations 1958-07-18 The Times London 6 54206 A 50th anniversary memorial service was held in the village of Brook, Isle of Wight on 18 November 2007 to commemorate the lives lost.Flying Boat Disaster, BBC South Today In October 2008 a permanent memorial was dedicated at Brook's St Mary's Church, about 0.7 mi km due south of the crash site.http://isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/others/brookshortsolent1957.htm Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight - Brook Short Solent air disaster isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk 2019-10-11 Notes References Flight, 22 November 1957, p. 793 (PDF) – early description of the accident Flight, 8 August 1958, p. 208 (PDF) – brief summary of the published accident report External links Photographs of the crash site taken in 1957, 1995 and 2005 WeVR6z2ryrI Two former Aquilla Airways employees discuss the crash in a 2017 video 6Q8mHotXnbQ British Pathe newsreel footage taken of the crash wreckage (silent)   (alternate link) on BritishPathe.com Newspaper clippings about the accident at PPRuNe "Service to mark 50 years since Isle of Wight Plane Crash" at Christian Today – includes brief eyewitness account "An emotional return", (PDF) Frontline – The newspaper of Hampshire Constabulary, November 2006, p. 15. Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash Category:Aquila Airways accidents and incidents Category:1957 in England Category:November 1957 in the United Kingdom Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom Category:1957 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:20th century on the Isle of Wight