Date:	Monday 21 December 1936
Time:	day
Type:	Vickers Virginia Mk X
Owner/operator:	214 Squadron, RAF
Registration:	K2680
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	None
Location:	Brough Aerodrome, Brough, East Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	Brough Aerodrome, East Yorkshire (EGNB)

Narrative:
Vickers Virginia Mk. X K2680, 214 Squadron, RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire: On 21st December 1936 this 214 Squadron aircraft was making an approach to land at Brough airfield when one of the crew fell out of the aircraft. Unfortunately, he died minutes after hitting the ground as he was not wearing a parachute. The aircraft then landed at Brough and the remaining crew of four were asked what the ballast was they had dropped prior to landing, as they had not intentionally dropped anything they went to the rear of the aircraft to find the fifth member of the crew missing. His body was found in a field near Brough.

As reported at the time in a contemporary local newspaper (Otago Daily Times, Issue 23071, 23 December 1936, Page 9 - see link #2):

"FELL FROM A BOMBER
AIR FORCE OFFICER KILLED
LONDON, Dec. 21
(Received Dec. 22, at 9 p.m.). When four members of the Air Force landed from a bomber at Brough Aerodrome they were astonished to find that the fifth man’s seat at the rear of the cockpit was vacant. Inquiries disclosed that while the bomber was manoeuvring spectators saw an object falling to the ground, and a search party from the aerodrome discovered the body of the fifth man, Pilot Officer Charles Hart, a few miles back".

The 214 Squadron Operational Record Book does not list this incident so learning further details are hard. The aircraft does not appear to have sustained any damage.

Crew:
Pilot Officer Charles Robert Hart RAF, aged 24, of Skinningrove, Yorkshire. Killed on active service 21 December 1936. Buried Brotton Church Cemetery, North Yorkshire.
Pilot - Squadron Leader Joseph Henry Hargroves RAF (07128). Uninjured.
Plus, a further three other crew members - Names unknown/not reported. Uninjured.

Virginia Mk. X K2680 was undamaged, and survived to be finally struck off charge on 30/11/37

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 17)
2. Otago Daily Times, Issue 23071, 23 December 1936, Page 9: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19361223.2.65#text-tab
3. National Archives (PRO Kew): 214 Squadron ORB for the period September 1935 to December 1940: File AIR 27/1319 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503959
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?314-RAF-officer-deaths-1-1-29-3-9-39
5. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york36/k2680.html
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257938841/charles-robert-hart
7. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280007/
8. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brough_Aerodrome#History

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Apr-2018 22:34	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Oct-2018 13:47	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
19-May-2024 09:56	Nepa	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator, ]
30-Jul-2025 06:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Source, Narrative, Category, ]