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| Date: | Tuesday 25 April 1939 |
| Time: | dusk |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide |
| Owner/operator: | Isle of Man Air Services Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AEAK |
| MSN: | 6324 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Speke Airport, Liverpool, Merseyside, England -
United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Manchester International (Ringway) (MAN/EGCC) |
| Destination airport: | Liverpool Airport, Speke, Liverpool (LPL/EGGP) |
Narrative:C/no. 6324, registered G-AEAK [C of R 6640] 22.2.36 to Railway Air Services Ltd, Barton; named "Star of Mona". C of A 5350 issued 4.4.36. Re-registered [C of R 8149] 19.10.37 to Isle of Man Air Services Ltd, Derbyhaven.
Written off 25.4.39: Following an anti-aircraft exercise with the Territorial Army in the Manchester area, darkness was setting in as Captain James Hesketh made an approach to Liverpool Airport at Speke, when the aircraft struck a tall tree, resulting in a nose-down crash onto the airfield. One passenger was killed, and Captain James Hesketh (pilot) suffered severe injuries from which he did eventually recover.
Registration G-AEAK cancelled by the CAA on 18.5.39 as "permanently withdrawn from use"
Sources:
1.
https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf 2.
https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AEAK.pdf 3.
http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/79-register-gb-g-ae 4.
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A8.html 5.
https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89-dragon-rapide-liverpool-1-killed 6.
http://derbosoft.proboards.com/thread/13889/liverpool-aviation-accidents-incidents 7.
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p063.html 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_John_Lennon_Airport#History Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
| 17-May-2008 11:10 |
ASN archive |
Added |
| 25-Feb-2010 09:21 |
penguin832 |
Updated [Date, Source, ] |
| 14-Dec-2011 19:09 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 23-Dec-2011 21:26 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Date, ] |
| 30-Dec-2013 07:57 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Oct-2017 19:47 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 18-Feb-2019 19:20 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 31-May-2024 21:54 |
Nepa |
Updated [Location, Operator, ] |
| 15-Mar-2025 19:21 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Source, Category, ] |
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