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| Date: | Tuesday 7 April 1925 |
| Time: | 11:00 |
| Type: | Vickers Virginia VIII |
| Owner/operator: | 9 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | J7439 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Thames Estuary, Beresford Gap, off Birchington, Kent -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Manston, Kent |
On 7.4.25 at 11am local time, Vickers Virginia VIII twin-engine biplane heavy bomber J7439 of 9 Squadron, RAF, encountered thick fog over the Thames Estuary, whilst on a sortie from RAF Manston, and the Captain decided to ditch the aircraft in the sea, into the Beresford Gap, off Birchington, Kent. He and one crewman survived with injuries, but the second-pilot and the other crewman were reported as missing, believed drowned.
Pilot Officer Neil Coull Walker RAF (co-pilot) and AC.1 Ernest Edward Mills RAF (Service Number 335778) were killed. Of the other two crew members, Pilot Officer Eric Alfred Claude Bushell, the pilot of the aircraft, was slightly injured and No. 362113 AC.2 Horace Eustace Grellis (Service Number 262113) was seriously injured.
Wreckage recovered from the crash site, and returned to Vickers Aircraft at Brooklands, Byfleet, Surrey. Rebuilt as the prototype Vickers Virginia Mk.X; first flown as such in May 1927
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1929.htm
2. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_vickers_virginia.html
3. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17305-RAF-fatalities-1925
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-115-virginia-viii-birchington-2-killed
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Nov-2013 20:03 | angels one five | Added |
| 11-Nov-2013 20:08 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 13-Dec-2013 23:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 13-Dec-2013 23:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Jun-2015 09:12 | Xindel | Updated [Time, Operator, ] |
| 26-May-2018 21:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 09-Nov-2018 08:54 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
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