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| Date: | Friday 5 September 1947 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax C.8 |
| Owner/operator: | Payloads (Charter) Company Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AIWT |
| MSN: | 1338 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire |
| RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Handley Page Halifax C. Mk. VIII: Built for the RAF as PP265. Sold on and civil registered as G-AIWT on 18 November 1946 to London Aero Motor Service Ltd (LAMS) at Elstree Aerodrome, Hertfordshire (and later Stansted Airport, Stansted, Essex). Aircraft named "Port of Sydney". As a trial, G-AIWT Port of Sydney departed Stansted on 23 April 1947 on an around-the-world tramping (cargo) flight. Under the command of LAMS Chief pilot Captain Keith Thiele, with Graham Humby listed as copilot, the Halifax routed via Iceland, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, Canton Island, Fiji, New Zealand. The load from Fiji to Auckland was 2.5 tons of empty beer bottles to help a bottle shortage at the Auckland brewery which supplied Fiji. Then to Sydney and return to England, reaching Stansted 4 June 1947 carrying 7 tons of dripping (beef fat), which was in short supply in Britain.
Sold on 28 June 1947 and re-registered on 3 September 1947 to Payloads (Charter) Company Ltd., London SW.1, but believed based at RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 5 September 1947 (two days later!) when crashed on landing at RAF Bovingdon, Hertfordshire. Cause of accident not known; there were no casualties among the crew of four, but the aircraft was written off.
Air Ministry notified in September 1948 that the aircraft was "withdrawn from use" at C of A expiry. However, the registration G-AIWT was not finally cancelled by the Secretary of State, Air Ministry until 14 February 1951 as "Sold for Scrap"
Sources:
1. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp70-halifax-viii-raf-bovingdon-0
2. http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AIWT.pdf
3. http://halifax346et347.canalblog.com/archives/index.html
4. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/halifax/hphalifax.html
5. https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/MEV-10844858
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bovingdon#Postwar_uses
7. Stansted Airport Through Time by Charles Woodley
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 01-Jun-2010 08:31 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 01-Jun-2010 08:42 | TB | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 26-Apr-2013 08:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Jan-2014 18:16 | TB | Updated [Total occupants, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 07-Mar-2017 23:53 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 22-Dec-2018 10:10 | TB | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 28-Oct-2019 22:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Apr-2021 21:10 | TB | Updated [Location, Operator, ] |
| 09-May-2023 19:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated |
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