ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 141523
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: | Sunday 12 March 1944 |
| Time: | c. 23:15 LT |
| Type: | Airspeed Oxford Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 11 (P) AFU RAF |
| Registration: | LX745 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Shining Tor, Peak District, Derbyshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Calveley, Nantwich, Cheshire |
| RAF Calveley, Nantwich, Cheshire |
Airspeed Oxford LX745 "B" of 11 (Pilot) Advance Flying Unit (11 (P) AFU). Written off (destroyed) 12 March 1944: The aircraft was being used for a night cross country exercise from RAF Calveley near Nantwich. The briefed route was to have been Calveley–Wrexham–Lichfield–Calveley at a height of 2,300 feet. They got airborne at 22:22 hours and headed on the initial short leg from just west of Nantwich to Wrexham, at this time the wind speed was increasing.
The wireless operator obtained a QDR (bearing from the airfield) bearing from Calveley while in the Wrexham area at 22:34 hours, and was heard by another aircraft at 23:15 hours trying to contact Calveley from the Lichfield area to obtain a QDM. These calls although heard by other aircraft were not received by the ground station and so went unanswered. Nothing further was heard of the crew or aircraft after this point.
It was five days later that the badly broken up wreck was discovered on the northern end of the 559 metre (1,834 feet) Shining Tor, in the Peak District (at approximate coordinates 53°15′39″N, 2°00′34″W) along with the bodies of the three crewmen who had all been killed instantly.
The aircraft had been flying in a southerly direction and in a gentle turn to port when it struck the ground with its port wing before flying through a wall which runs along the Cheshire/Derbyshire boundary. The aircraft then began to disintegrate and was scattered across the moor to around where parts still remain today.
The wireless operators log was recovered from the wrecked aircraft and he had noted making calls with no times, but they were estimated to stop around 23:30 hours by using the log of the other aircraft which had heard calls as a guide.
The Court of Inquiry in the accident, held in the weeks after the crash, concluded that the position of the aircraft had been miscalculated while flying in zero visibility with fluctuating wind speeds, with a hour before taking off the wind being about 35 mph, decreasing to 15 mph at take off to around 50 mph at the time of the crash. It was thought that the drift caused by the weather was not compensated for as the gain in wind strength was unknown to the pilots.
The crash occurred roughly at the time the aircraft would have been expected back at Calveley and so it was thought that the pilots had descended through the clouds on ETA over base. The failure to hear or answer any radio calls was put down the the ground station working with another aircraft at the time when these calls were made.
In addition to the findings of the Court it was noted that the Darky radio navigation aid was not used. It was recommended that crews should maintain regular contact with base with bearings being requested at regular intervals.
Crew of Airspeed Oxford LX745:
Charles Stuart Grant Wood (Flying Officer) Pilot/Instructor Killed
Gerald Campbell Liggett (Flying Officer, RCAF) Pilot (under training) Killed
Joseph George Hall (Flight Sergeant) Wireless Operator
The three crew were all buried in Chester’s Blacon Cemetery, below are photographs of where they lie. Sgt Hall is recorded as a navigator on his grave but in all the available documents relating to his service and crash he is recorded as a wireless operator.
Sources:
1. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/airspeed-oxford-lx745-shining-tor/
2. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/airspeed-oxford-lx745/
3. http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/oxford-mki-lx745_27.html
4. http://aircrewremembered.com/wood-charles.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Tor .
6. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1944/archives/crash-of-an-airspeed-as-10-oxford-in-united-kingdom-3-killed-2/]
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Jan-2012 12:34 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 24-Jul-2017 21:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 24-Jul-2017 21:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 01-Aug-2017 20:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 23-Dec-2017 19:14 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
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