Date:	Tuesday 2 May 1939
Time:	c. 22:00 LT
Type:	Armstrong Whitworth Whitley B Mk I
Owner/operator:	10 Squadron, RIAF
Registration:	K7190
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Dishforth, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Dishforth, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley I K7190, 10 Squadron, RAF Dishforth: On 2nd May 1939 this 10 Squadron the crew of this aircraft took off from Dishforth airfield for an hour long night flying exercise at 21.45hrs. Fifteen minutes later the aircraft landed back at Dishforth because the fuselage door was open. The door was shut, it taxied around the airfield and took off again.

Once in the air it climbed away too steeply, a stall occurred and it dived into the ground believed to have been within the airfield boundary. The aircraft was destroyed by fire and the two crew killed. An investigation followed. The nature of the steep climb away after leaving the ground pointed to the elevator control locks being left in place however the investigation could not fully prove this because of the fire that destroyed much of the aircraft. It did not rule out the locking pin had been put in while the fuselage door was closed and secured but the fire had destroyed the area where it would have been but noted that the pilot was known for his observation of procedures. If that was not the cause it may have been down to trimming tabs being set for landing and that the pilots forgot to return them to neutral prior to taking off again.

Crew:
Pilot - Sgt Henry Albert Donald RAF (565524), aged 24. Buried Chester le Street Cemetery, Durham.
Second Pilot - Sgt Eric Cecil James Fryer RAF (514238), aged 26. Buried Croydon Cemetery, London.

According to the official Air Ministry announcement in "Flight" magazine (May 11, 1939 page 480 - see link #4)

"FLYING ACCIDENTS
Sgt. Henry Albert Donald (pilot) and Sgt. Eric Cecil James Fryer lost their lives in an accident which occurred in Yorkshire, on May 2, to an aircraft of No. 10 Squadron"

As reported in the "Leeds Mercury" - Thursday 4 May 1939

"INQUEST ON R.A.F. SERGEANTS AT DISHFORTH
Colonel Innes Ware, York District Coroner, opened and adjourned an inquest last night on the two Royal Air Force sergeants who lost their lives in a burning 'plane crash, at Dishforth Aerodrome, on Tuesday night.

The men were Sergeant Henry Albert Donald (24) and Sergeant Eric Cecil James Fryer (26), attached to No. 10 Squadron.

Dr. F. P. Rust (Boroughbridge) said death was the result of multiple injuries and extensive burns".

The Chester le Street Chronicle 12/05/1939 reports:
"Funeral at Chester le Street.
Promising career cut short by air crash.
A detachment from the RAF Auxiliary Squadron at Usworth in charge of Pilot Officer Young provided a firing party and bearer party at the funeral at Chester le Street on Saturday of Pilot-Sergeant Henry Albert Donald, of No.10 Squadron Heavy Bombers, who was killed on Tuesday of last week when a plane he was flying at Dishforth Aerodrome crashed, and representatives from the No.10 Squadron also attended.

The late Pilot-Sergeant, who was the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Donald, of 14 The Crescent, Chester le Street, joined the R.A.F. when he was sixteen years of age, gaining entry by competitive examination while a student at Chester le Street Secondary School.

After four years service as an aircraftman at various aerodromes in Britain he was transferred to Egypt, where he served for just over a year.

Returning to England he again served at various aerodromes as an aircraftman, but he quickly began to forge ahead and in less than two years reached the rank of pilot-sergeant, the youngest at Dishforth Aerodrome, and a brilliant future appeared to be in store for him.

In a recent flying test he had the honour of being the top of the twelve competitors, these including officers with greater experience than himself.

(The rest of the article describes the funeral itself.)

Whitley K7190 was built to contract 421118/35 by Armstrong Whitworth and was allotted to 10 Squadron on 6th April 1937. The aircraft was taken on charge by 10 Squadron on 19th May 1937. On 14th February 1939 the aircraft received a repair on site by a team from Cunliffe Owen and was returned to 10 Squadron once complete. Following the crash at Dishforth, on 2nd May 1939 the damage was assessed and it was struck off charge. The aircraft had flown a total of 355 hours from new.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 58)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
3. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?18054-10-Sqn-accident-Dishforth-May-2nd-1939
4. (paywall) https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939%20-%201415.html?search=flying%20accidents
5. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/yorkp39/k7190.html
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) Report No: W654. File AVIA 5/19/W654: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576867
7. The Chester le Street Chronicle 12/05/1939
8. Leeds Mercury - Thursday 4 May 1939
9. National Archives (PRO Kew) 10 Sqn ORB for the period 1 January 1915 to 31 December 1940: File AIR27/141 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2502773
10. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280155/
11. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280156/
12. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-armstrong-whitworth-aw38-whitley-i-raf-dishforth-2-killed
13. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=12566.0
14. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54985859/eric-cecil_james-fryer
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._10_Squadron_RAF#Interwar
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Dishforth#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Mar-2018 23:22	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Mar-2018 15:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
28-Mar-2018 15:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, ]
28-Mar-2018 15:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
02-Nov-2018 18:55	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
14-May-2024 21:36	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ]
13-Aug-2025 06:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Category, ]