ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 145133
Last updated: 8 December 2019
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| Date: | 13-APR-1922 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Vickers Type 54 Viking IV |
| Owner/operator: | Sir Ross Macpherson Smith |
| Registration: | G-EBBZ |
| C/n / msn: | 15 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Brooklands Aerodrome, West Byfleet, Surrey |
| Brooklands Aerodrome, West Bufleet, Surrey |
Civil Registered as G-EBBZ (C of A 812) 14/3/22 to Sir Ross Smith. Written off 13/4/22. The aircraft crashed near Brooklands Aerodrome, at West Byfleet, Surrey, during a test flight of Type 54 Viking IV. The accident killed both crew. Lt James Mallett Bennett and Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, who died in the crash was from the 1919 England to Australia flight. G-EBBZ spun into the ground from 1,000 feet (305 metres), killing both. Keith Bennett, who arrived late for the test flight, witnessed the accident. Ross had not flown at all for many months, and had never flown this type of aircraft. The investigating committee concluded that the accident had been the result of pilot error.
Captain Stanley Cockerell, test pilot for Vickers, had flown Smith and Bennett as passengers on the aircraft's maiden flight earlier that day and testified to the inquest that the machine seemed to be in perfect working order. The jury returned a verdict of "death by misadventure". The bodies were transported to Australia and Smith was given a state funeral and later buried on 15/6/22 at the North Road Cemetery, Adelaide.
Sources:
1. Sir Ross Smith's Death: No Failure of the Machine", The Times, 17 April 1922
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Macpherson_Smith
3. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576517
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-54-viking-iv-brooklands-3-killed
5. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-EBBZ.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E2.html
7. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-sir-ross-macpherson-8529
8. http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-heroes/smith.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Apr-2012 13:44 | ryan | Added |
| 18-Dec-2013 23:42 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-May-2018 16:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source, Narrative] |
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