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| Date: | Saturday 30 July 1949 |
| Time: | 22:45 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide |
| Owner/operator: | North Sea Air Transport |
| Registration: | G-AIWZ |
| MSN: | 6867 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Welton Crossroads, NE of Brough Airfield, Brough, East Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Greatham Airfield, West Hartlepool, County Durham |
| Brough Airfield, Brough, East Yorkshire (EGNB) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no.6867: Taken on charge by RAF as NR791 at 18 MU RAF Dumfries 16.3.45. To 1 Ferry Unit, RAF Pershore 11.10.45. Returned to 18 MU RAF Dumfries 12.6.46. Struck off charge 11.11.46. Sold 12.11.46 to Blackburn Aircraft Ltd. Registered as G-AIWZ (C of R 11043) 21.11.46 to North Sea Air Transport Ltd, Brough. C of A 8773 issued 13.1.47.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when crashed into a barley field to North East of the airfield on landing at Brough, East Yorkshire 30.7.49; two of the three on board were killed. All three occupants of this aeroplane worked for the Blackburn and General Aircraft Ltd, based at Brough. The aircraft was owned by the North Sea Air Transport Ltd, based at Brough and whom Blackburn's had strong links to.
During the evening of 30th July 1949, they were on a flight returning to Brough from West Hartlepool following a business trip and by the late evening it reached the general area above Brough airfield. At around 22.45hrs it was heard circling with possibly an engine failing, it then struck the top branches of a tree around 200 yards from Brough airfield and crashed into a barley field. Half an hour later the least seriously injured man was found wandering dazed on a lane and was taken to the nearest building, a railway signal box, for assistance.
Sadly, the pilot was killed instantly. Both injured passengers were taken to Hull Royal Infirmary but one died the following day of injuries sustained**. The crash location was described as being near Welton Crossroads, this would appear to have been in a field south of Welton and just east of the airfield at Brough, it may well now be built over. Both men who died were married and both had two young children.
Crew and Passengers of G-AIWZ:
Pilot - Captain Patrick James Winch, aged 32. Killed - Buried Elloughton (St. Mary) Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Passenger - Mr Ivor Wrigglesworth, aged 38. Died of injuries 31 July 1949. Buried Yarm Cemetery, Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees Unitary Authority, County Durham. (**Note that the grave marker gives the date of death as 1 August 1949 (that is, one day later than some reports))
Passenger - Mr William Locke. Survived but seriously injured.
Registration cancelled with effect from same day (30.7.49) as "destroyed"
The crash location of Welton (or Welton with Melton) is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The parish extends to the bank of the Humber Estuary at its southern extreme, and into the Yorkshire Wolds in the northern part. The A63 road and Hull to Selby railway line both bisect the parish east–west, south of Melton and Welton.
Sources:
1. National Archives (PRO Kew) BT 217/2593: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576747
2. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AIWZ.pdf
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89a-dragon-rapide-brough-1-killed
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p068.html
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_Northern_England.pdf
7. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york49/aiwz.html
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/260354008/ivor-wrigglesworth
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128610074/pat-winch
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welton,_East_Riding_of_Yorkshire
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brough_Aerodrome#History
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 30-Dec-2011 10:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Feb-2019 15:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 10-Dec-2019 19:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, ] |
| 16-Mar-2025 19:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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