Date:	Sunday 30 March 1958
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	Merseyside & North Wales Flying Club
Registration:	G-ANSA
MSN:	82194
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Dungeon Banks, River Mersey, 500 yards from Liverpool Airport -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Liverpool Speke Airport (LPL/EGGP)
Destination airport:	Liverpool Speke Airport (LPL/EGGP)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 82194 (Gipsy Major #81083): Taken on charge as N6944 by 600 (City of London) Squadron, RAF Hendon, Middlesex 13.7.39; moved with the squadron to RAF Northolt, Middlesex 8.39; RAF Hornchurch, Essex 10.39; RAF Manston, Kent 12.39; back to RAF Hornchurch, Essex 8.40; to RAF Redhill, Surrey 9.40; to RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire 10.40.

To 258 Squadron, RAF Jurby, Isle of Man 5.3.41; moved with squadron to RAF Kenley, Whyteleaf, Surrey 22.4.41; to RAF Martlesham Heath, Suffolk 10.7.41. To 1456 Flight, RAF Honiley, Warwickshire 16.1.42. Crashed 13.2.42 [presumed at RAF Honiley]; Pilot - Pilot Officer R J Armstrong - survived but was injured. To 39 MU RAF Colerne, Chippenmham, Wiltshire [after repairs] 26.3.42. To 170 Squadron, RAF Hurn, Bouremouth, Dorset 11.7.42. To 43 OTU, RAF Larkhill, Wiltshire 5.10.42; moved with OTU to RAF Old Sarum, Wiltshire 19.11.42. Returned to 170 Squadron, RAF Andover, Hampshire 11.11.42. To 3 MU (sic) 26.11.42. To 18 EFTS RAF Fairoaks, Chobham, Surrey 24.5.43 later coded "FIS-G". To 18 RFS (Reserve Flying School) RAF Fairoaks, Chobham, Surrey 26.6.47 coded “RCT-O”. To 22 RFS (Reserve Flying School) RAF Teversham, Cambridge 14.6.50. To RAF Hooton Park Station Flight. Hooton Park, Wirral, Cheshire 22.9.50 [unit renamed Fighter Command Station Flight 22.10.51]. Struck off charge as Cat 5(s) 23.11.51.

Sold as scrap 22.5.54 to Wolverhampton Aviation Ltd, Pendeford, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. UK civil registered as G-ANSA (CofR R4617/1) 26.5.54 to Douglas Edward Bianchi, Ashford, Middlesex (although the aircraft was based at White Waltham, Msidenhead, Berkshire). C of A 4617 issued 13.5.55. Fitted with coupe top. Regsitration cancelled/lapsed 4.12.55 and re-registered (C of R R4617/2) 7.12.55 to Blackpool & Fylde Aero Club Ltd, Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire. (Reported In storage at Squires Gate from 12.56 to 6.57)

Registation cancelled/lapsed 22.7.57 and re-registered (C of R R4617/3) 7.8.57 to John Green, Liverpool; operated by Merseyside & North Wales Flying Club, Speke Airport, Liverpool.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed in River Mersey, in the Dungeon Banks, 500 yards from Speke Airport, Liverpool 30.3.58 on approach. The accident to this Tiger Moth Coupe resulted from flying into the flat calm surface of the River Mersey in poor hazy visibility whilst on approach to Liverpool/Speke Airport. It would seem that the delineation of the horizon between sea and sky was not easy to perceive; the pilot was misled by the "glassy calm" waters of the River Mersey, and the mist and sea fog. He therefore was unsure of the aircraft's altitude above mean sea level (amsl) and the fact that the aircraft was slowly descending to zero feet

Of the two persons on board, Merseyside & North Wales Flying Club owner (and registered owner of G-ANSA) John 'Jack' Green drowned, trapped by the cockpit canopy. The student pilot under training escaped.

Wreck beached by New Brighton lifeboat. Registration G-ANSA cancelled 10.9.58 as "destroyed".

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
2. Crash 1321942: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/13336: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17205973
3. CAA: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ANSA.pdf
4. http://derbosoft.proboards.com/post/36846
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p821.html
6. http://derbosoft.proboards.com/post/72773/thread
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
8. https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/De-Havilland-DH-82A-Tiger-Moth/1804001/L
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_John_Lennon_Airport#Civil_airport
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Mersey#Estuary

De Havilland 82A Tiger Moth Coupe at Coventry (Baginton) Airport 20 August 1955:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Jan-2016 22:04	Dr.John Smith	Added
10-Jan-2016 22:05	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
10-Apr-2018 20:07	TB	Updated [Location, Nature, Embed code, Narrative]
23-Nov-2021 15:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
23-Nov-2021 16:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
23-Nov-2021 16:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
14-Mar-2022 13:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]