ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 2275
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Tuesday 17 March 1936 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Avro 504N |
| Owner/operator: | CFS RAF |
| Registration: | K2350 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Alton Barnes Relief Landing Ground, Wiltshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Upavon, Wiltshire |
| Alton Barnes RLG, Wiltshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The pilots was completing a training flight. On final approach, the single engine aircraft was too low and hit the ground short of the runway at Alton Barnes Relief Landing Ground, Wiltshire. The Avro 504 lost its undercarriage, overturned and came to rest upside down. While the aircraft was destroyed, the pilots survived, although injured. It is believed that the crash of Avro 504N K2350 was the first ever crash at RAF Alton Barnes RLG. The Wiltshire Gazette of 19th March 1936, beneath the headline “Aeroplane Down at Alton” described the events in lurid prose:
"Two Royal Air Force sergeants had a narrow escape when an aeroplane in which they were [travelling] struck a small tree and turned turtle in landing at Alton Barnes on Tuesday afternoon. Happily, both men – Sergeants Francis and Upton, of the Central Flying School, Upavon – came through the mishap without a scratch.
The ‘plane was landing in a field frequently used by RAF pilots to practise emergency descent, and the villagers, accustomed to the coming and going of the machines, took no particular notice of it until they heard the crash as it landed. It was the lower wing of the machine which struck a tree, about six feet high, and caused the plane to swing round and tip over. It came to rest upside down, on the top wing and tail, with its wheels in the air.
Fortunately the occupants were strapped in, otherwise they would have been thrown out and probably severely injured. As it was, their straps held them, with about a foot clearance between their heads and the ground, when the machine came to rest, and they were able to release themselves and scramble out. Fortunately there was no leakage of petrol.
Villagers hurried to the scene upon hearing the crash, but found the men had extricated themselves from the ‘plane only a little shaken by their experience. A relief party was sent from Upavon, and was quickly on the spot. A good deal of amusement was caused when the lorry and trailer bringing the party became ‘bogged’ in an adjacent field, but it was quickly hauled from the mud.
The machine was an Avro instructional ‘plane of an old type. The propeller was smashed and the undercarriage damaged. It is unlikely to take the air again.”
Cause of accident: Too low approach on the part of the pilot.
Sources:
1. Air-Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s
2. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-504n-alton-barnes
3. http://dunxc2.wixsite.com/pypard/alton-barnes
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Feb-2008 16:15 | JINX | Added |
| 21-Jun-2013 11:13 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 15-Jul-2013 08:15 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 04-Sep-2017 20:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Nov-2018 15:40 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 25-Dec-2020 17:46 | Sergey L. | Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation