ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15698
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| Date: | Wednesday 2 December 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Hawker Henley Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 1609 (AAC) Flt RAF |
| Registration: | L3440 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Llanbrynmaer, Montgomeryshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Aberporth |
| RAF Cosford |
L3440 - Bellylanded after inflight engine fire.2.12.1942
Uncle Matt Mallorie (I think this is it)
Eight weeks after I went to Aberporth I had a telephone call from my younger brother Paul to say that he was in the RAF hospital at Cosford about to have an operation to remove glands from his neck. I organised an aircraft for the next morning to fly to Cosford. During the winter it was almost inevitable that one had to fly to either the north or south coast of Wales to get into England as the mountains, running the length of Wales, were almost permanently covered in cloud. That morning there was not a cloud in the sky so I set off, without a second thought, straight over the mountains flying two hundred feet higher than the highest ridge on track. About a mile short of the ridge there was a large bang and the cockpit filled with smoke. My first thought was the fire extinguisher but I could not move the handle. Next I tried to jettison the canopy but I could not break the emergency release cover so I did not have the option of testing my parachute. By this time I was just flying over the ridge having maintained my height and lost a lot of speed. I was flying aver a very narrow valley with steep escarpments on both sides. Just on my right there was a row of five small fields about fifty yards wide and two or three hundred yards long . I estimated that they were eight hundred feet below me. I had never tried the dive breaks but now was the time if ever there was one. Pointing the nose straight down at a point about three hundred yards short of the first field I levelled out heading towards the line of fields. The hedges dividing the fields had not been laid for years and were about fifteen feet high. I sailed over the first three hedges rapidly loosing speed with the dive brakes still out. Flying through hedges had not been on the syllabus of any course that I had been on so decided on a little research and flew through the top three feet of the next hedge with no ill effects except on my ears. The aeroplane was getting near stall speed so I went through the next hedge about six feet up with a shattering bang landing twenty yards on the other side and grinding to a stop fifteen yards short of steep drop of about twenty feet! ! Nobody ever got out of an aircraft or ran away from it quicker than I did that day. When I turned round there was practically no smoke coming from the engine just a rather battered looking aeroplane sitting on its belly. As nothing seemed to be happening I went back to have a look. There was only a small pool of oil in the bottom cowl under the engine with a small flame flickering over it but with no portable fire extinguisher there was nothing I could do about it so I collected my over night bag, parachute and maps. Walking some distance away I put them on the ground and turned round to see a jeep coming to the field. Such service I had not expected. By very good fortune there was an Air Observation Post on top of the opposite escarpment, they had watched the whole drama and were on their way to pick me up before I landed. A.O.P's were set up all over the county to plot the course of aircraft in their area They were all connected by phone or radio and so could pass aircraft movements on from one to another. I was told that a car was already on its way from Aberporth to pick me up at the pub in the nearest town, Llanbrynmair. The fire had by then taken hold so, naturally, we did not waste any time setting off for the pub to wait for the car and have a beer or two! As we left the field there was an explosion, one of the petrol tanks had burst sending a sheet of flame high into the air. After a few beers in the pub a car arrived and I got back to the aerodrome in time for lunch. + other
Sources:
Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Mar-2008 13:17 | JINX | Added |
| 15-Aug-2010 13:40 | Jeremy | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 13-Jan-2012 23:48 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 13-Aug-2013 02:05 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 24-Aug-2013 09:03 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 03-Oct-2013 01:22 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 14-Oct-2014 15:10 | Siczak | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
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