ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159963
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| Date: | Monday 18 October 1943 |
| Time: | c. 21:30 LT |
| Type: | Airspeed Oxford Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 21 (P) AFU RAF |
| Registration: | LX518 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Featherbed Moss, Outer Edge, Margary Hill, Peak District, Derbyshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire |
| RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire |
At 20:45pm on the 18th October 1943, 22-year-old Pilot Officer Denis Patrick Kyne, RNZAF, took off from Wheaton Aston, which is between Stafford and Telford, for a solo night cross country navigation flight along with several other aircraft (this was his first solo night flight), all of which were taking different routes. Pilot Officer Denis Kyne was to have flown West-South-West to Condover then North-North-East to Shawbury and then East-South-East to return to Wheaton Aston, a route of a little over 50 miles.
Only 5 months before this another Oxford set out from Wheaton Aston on the very same route but in reverse and never returned, this was Oxford EB717 of No.11 (P)AFU. According to the No.21 (P)AFU ORB at 21:00 Pilot Officer Kyne had reported setting course for Condover and nothing further was heard from him.
The weather was rapidly deteriorating and at 21:45pm it was decided to re-call all of the aircraft flying that night, the re-call was acknowledged by all but one of the aircraft, this being LX518. When the aircraft failed to return by ten past midnight it was reported as overdue, it was known that the aircraft could no-longer be airborne as there was only two-and-a-half hours of fuel on board, with the hope that Pilot Officer Kyne may have landed elsewhere.
Five days later on the 23rd October the missing aircraft was found on Featherbed Moss, Outer Edge, Margary Hill in the north-east of the Peak District, Derbyshire (at approximate Coordinates: 53.5070°N 1.9314°W), some 56 miles North North East of Wheaton Aston, it was concluded that Pilot Officer Kyne must have become lost shortly after he took off. He had radioed to say he was proceeding to his first way point which he may have reached and turned towards Shawbury, which, had he done so, he would have missed as their beacon had failed shortly after 9 pm. After missing the Shawbury beacon, Pilot Officer Kyne could have continued in a north-easterly direction until he became hopelessly lost.
Following the recovery of his body Pilot Officer Kyne (who was originally from Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand) was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, the aircraft’s remains were broken up on site, with the engines being recovered and the remainder of the aircraft being destroyed on site and disposed of in the gully which still contains wreckage from the aircraft.
The moor was being used as an artillery range at the time of the crash (probably part of the reason why no-one found the aircraft for 5 days) which caused problems with the recovery. Work could only be carried out in the short periods between firing times. The No.60 Maintenance Unit ORB had the following to say about the recovery.
“One difficult salvage operation was successfully effected during the month. An Oxford aircraft LX518 crashed on the artillery range at Langsett near Penistone, in one of the wildest and most inaccessible parts of the Pennines Chain. Three mobile sections were employed as all the salvageable parts, including the engines had to be sledged across 1 1/2 miles of very rough moorland and bog by manpower to the nearest loading point. The operation was begun on November 7th and was completed on November 15th despite the fact that it was only possible to work at set times as the range was being used at intervals during the whole period.”
Sources:
1. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/airspeed-oxford-lx518-margary-hill/
2. http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.com/2007/12/airspeed-oxford-mki-lx518.html
3. Photo of crash site & wreckage: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/5643700278
4. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/debris-from-oxford-lx518-and-a-pair-of-air-crash-site-researchers/
5. http://mapio.net/pic/p-26156000/
6. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york43/lx518.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherbed_Moss
8. https://www.alltravels.com/united-kingdom/england/upper-midhope/photos/current-photo-82282708
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Sep-2013 21:57 | JINX | Added |
| 02-Jun-2015 19:48 | DB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 26-Jul-2017 21:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Jul-2017 20:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2018 19:43 | XindelX | Updated [Operator] |
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