Accident description
Last updated: 19 June 2013
| Status: | |
| Date: | 02 DEC 1945 |
| Type: | Handley Page HP.68 Hermes 1 |
| Operator: | Handley Page Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AGSS |
| C/n / msn: | HP.68/1 |
| First flight: | 1945 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | 5 km (3.1 mls) from Radlett Airfield (United Kingdom)
 |
| Phase: | Initial climb (ICL) |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Radlett Airfield (EGTL), United Kingdom |
| Radlett Airfield (EGTL), United Kingdom |
The Handley Page HP.68 Hermes 1 prototype crashed on its initial flight.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. It is considered that the accident was the direct result of elevator overbalance, this brought about flight conditions the nature of which caused the pilot to lose control.
2. Although the porpoising motions set up by the overbalanced elevators would have been expected, the final manoeuvre of the aircraft, in climbing suddenly, cannot be satisfactorily explained.
3. It seems certain, however, that at different trimmer settings, a reversal of stick forces would have occurred with which the pilot could not have kept in phase as the loads increased. Events:
Sources:
» Air Pictorial Oct. 1965, p.371
» Flight International Dec. 6, 1945
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Radlett Airfield to Radlett Airfield as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
Distance from Radlett Airfield to Radlett Airfield as the crow flies is 0 km (0 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
