Date:	Wednesday 15 October 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Westland W.34 Wyvern TF Mk I
Owner/operator:	Westland Aircraft Ltd
Registration:	TS371
MSN:	W.34/1
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Cattistock, Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Yeovil Aerodrome, Yeovil, Somerset (EGHG)
Destination airport:	Yeovil Aerodrome, Yeovil, Somerset (EGHG)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The first prototype of the Westland Wyvern TF Mark I (serial TS371). The prototype W.34; the Wyvern TF.1, first flew at Boscombe Down on 16 December 1946 with Westland's test pilot Harald Penrose at the controls. It crashed during a test flight on 15 October 1947. The Rolls-Royce Eagle engine suffered a failure of the pitch translation bearing during the return to Yeovil Aerodrome, Yeovil, Somerset (EGHG - not to be confused with RNAS Yeovilton) while flying at 24,000 feet. This caused the rear unit of the propeller to move into superfine pitch, leading to severe loss of thrust and increase to drag and torque.

The pilot, Squadron Leader Peter J. Garner, (Assistant Chief Test Pilot at Westland) made a forced landing near Cattistock, Dorset, but he was probably hit by a section of the propeller blade which penetrated the cockpit. He became unconscious and died in the ensuing fire.

According to a contemporary report in "Flight" magazine (October 23, 1947 - see link #5):

"ON Wednesday, October 15th, S/L. P. J. Garner, Assistant Chief Test Pilot of Westland Aircraft Ltd., met with a fatal accident while testing the first prototype Wyvern. During this last flight he had also posed the Wyvern for our camera.

The photographic flying had been carried out over the Chesil Bank area, and on the way back Peter reported by R/T that there was trouble with his contra-rotating airscrew, and asked that the airfield should be kept clear for an emergency landing.

His next R/T report was that "the front prop, has gone," followed shortly after by " I can maintain height at 2,400 feet with 145 mph on the A.S.I. I'm using nearly full left rudder." Shortly afterwards came his last remark, "I shan't make it, I am making a forced landing "

The field he selected was perfect for its purpose, and seen from the air the aircraft appeared to be fairly intact, with the exception of the airscrew and engine which had bowled on a farther 50 or 60 yards. It must be surmised that Garner was knocked out by the violence of the landing impact and, unfortunately, was unable to get out of the cockpit before being overwhelmed by the fire which broke out.

Under terrible circumstances Peter Garner had showed the mettle of which he was made. He had had enough height to use his parachute, but tried to land the Wyvern intact. His voice over the R/T was entirely unemotional, and the position of the crash in relation to the line of flight from where the photographs had been taken makes it certain that he deliberately crash-landed where he did rather than attempt to get into Yeovil airfield and take the chance of falling short and crashing in the town, which closely adjoins the airfield boundary.

Peter Garner was 25 years of age and had 950 hours in his log books"

Note that the official Air Ministry Report into the accident (File AVIA 5/29/W2396 - see link #2) gives the crash location as "Leigh, Somerset". If that is presumably Leigh-upon-Mendip, north-north-east of Yeovil, then that location is at least 40 miles from Cattistock, Dorset

Cattistock is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, sited in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley, 8 miles northwest of the county town Dorchester.

1. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.342-343
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/29/W2396: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578242
3. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?117606-Westland-Wyvern-alive-or-dead
4. http://thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/entry.php?id=179
5. Flight Magazine October 23 1947 p 466-467: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1947/1947%20-%201828.html?search=Squadron%20Leader%20P%20J%20Garner
6. http://www.yeovilhistory.info/westland-wyvern.htm
7. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/2952.htm
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wyvern#Design_and_development
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattistock

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Oct-2011 11:09	harro	Added
26-Mar-2012 11:52	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Embed code]
11-Feb-2013 18:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
17-Dec-2013 01:56	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
12-Jan-2018 12:13	harro	Updated [Embed code]
26-Nov-2019 22:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Nov-2019 22:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
26-Nov-2019 22:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Source]
07-May-2023 21:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Cn, Source]]