Date:	Saturday 18 September 1948
Time:
Type:	de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
Owner/operator:	16 FU RAF
Registration:	TE808
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF stn Manston, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:
Destination airport:	RAF Manston, Kent
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Mosquito TE808 (16 Ferry Unit) Control was lost during a slow roll entered at 400 feet and the Mosquito crashed inverted onto traffic on the roadway and exploded in a fireball. Accident during a Battle of Britain Day air display. The two crew of the Mosquito and ten persons on the ground lost their lives. 18/09/1948
Crew: 
F/Lt (111993) Geoffrey Alan HANSON (pilot) RAF - killed (NCO:1258665 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 30 December, 1941)
F/Lt (157960) James Leslie MARTIN ( nav.) RAF - killed (NCO:341754 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 09 November, 1943)

Civilian spectators - the dead were:
Stuart Graham CHIESMAN (13), Chislehurst;
Frances Clare LEWIS (13), Kingsgate, Kent;
Peter Charles SCOTT (19), Margate;
Mr Charles Edward TAYLOR (35), Ramsgate;
Mr Edward RUSTON (67), Bletchley, Bucks.;
Mrs Muriel LAWRENCE (48), Southgate. London:
Mrs Gertrude May ANDREWS (38), Margate, and her son. Brent (3) and
Miss Marie ALLEN (21), Borough, London;
Miss Marjorie Grace Dorlinda ASTELL (44), Chislehurst, Kent.

"THE MANSTON AIR TRAGEDY.
Twelve persons, including three children, lost their lives when a Mosquito aircraft crashed on a road crowded with occupied cars during a Battle of Britain air display at Manston on Saturday. Three persons were taken to hospital with multiple burns and two of them are in a critical condition. Six others were discharged after treatment for burns. The pilot, whose wife saw the accident, had led a flight of three aircraft in high speed formation flying before breaking away to give an exhibition of aerobatics. He had twice dived at over 400 m.p.h. and then roared past the public enclosure. Gaining height, he began a slow roll from which he did not pull out. The machine crashed on a road crowded with people and cars. The petrol tanks exploded and burning debris was scattered in all directions, setting fire to several cars.

At the inquest at Margate on Monday, a verdict of misadventure was returned by the jury. Giving evidence, Wing Commander Gilbert Vivian said that it was impossible for him to say officially whether the disaster was due to a failure of the machine or an error of judgement, but his personal opinion was that it was an error of judgement on the part of the pilot. The aircraft dived to about 100 feet, climbed, and at about 300 feet began to roll to the right. Three-quarters of the way round the pilot appeared to lose control, the aircraft began to lose height, turned over on its back and dived to the ground. The minimum height stipulated for a roll was 500 ft. The roll appeared to begin below that height, but he was not certain about that.

The Coroner, Mr S. Wilson Price, described the crash as an accident in every sense of the term. The roll should not have begun under 500 feet, but one could not tie a man handling an aircraft of such speed meticulously to 100 feet or so. It was just sheer misfortune that the accident happened on the road. It was an unfortunate error of judgement."

1. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2. http://thanetcoastlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/1948-battle-of-britain-air-display.html
3. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=3540.0
4. Dover Express - Friday 24 September 1948
5. Illustrated London News - Saturday 25 September 1948
6. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946-1949 pp 431-432 by Colin Cummings
7. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain.
8.Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Mar-2010 04:31	Nepa	Added
24-Oct-2010 03:07	rickey	Updated [Source]
20-Oct-2011 11:21	angels one five	Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Narrative]
20-Oct-2011 11:23	angels one five	Updated [Source]
20-Oct-2011 11:28	angels one five	Updated [Operator]
24-Oct-2011 13:59	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
02-Mar-2012 11:59	Nepa	Updated [Location, Destination airport]
21-Nov-2012 23:53	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative]
28-Jun-2013 07:12	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Location]
16-Aug-2013 08:59	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative]
07-Oct-2013 11:55	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Narrative]
31-Jul-2014 12:21	Nick Slaughter	Updated [Location, Narrative]
17-Feb-2015 18:21	TB	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
23-Feb-2015 17:37	DB	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative]
23-Feb-2015 17:56	Next	Updated [Location]
26-Jul-2015 12:24	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
20-Jun-2018 14:07	angels one five	Updated [Narrative]
03-Apr-2019 14:14	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator]
13-Feb-2020 01:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Feb-2020 09:00	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Operator]
18-Feb-2020 18:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Feb-2020 18:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
18-Feb-2020 20:39	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Operator]
14-Nov-2020 19:14	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative]
22-Dec-2020 21:35	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative, Operator]
15-Feb-2021 09:27	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator]
22-May-2021 20:23	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative]
10-Jun-2021 21:25	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative, Operator]
06-Jul-2021 10:23	TB	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
05-Aug-2022 17:06	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative]