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| Date: | Sunday 5 February 1928 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Blackburn L.1C Bluebird IV |
| Owner/operator: | Yorkshire Aeroplane Club |
| Registration: | G-EBRG |
| MSN: | WO 9803/4 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire (EGCJ) |
| Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire (EGCJ) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
First registered (C of R 1381/C of A 1207) 11/5/1927 to the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club Ltd.,Bradford, West Yorkshire (aircraft based at Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire). According to some sources (see link #5) G-EBRG was not actually delivered until September 1927 due to a) delays in construction (it was one of three - G-EBRF, G-EBRG and G-EBSV - ordered by the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club in May 1927) and b) delays in raising the finances to cover the purchase costs of all three airframes.
On Sunday, 5th February 1928 G-EBRG was being flown over the Sherburn in Elmet area by a member of the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club, based at Sherburn. During the flight the aircraft entered an uncontrolled spin from which the pilot initially lost control from around 600 feet above the ground. The pilot managed to put the aircraft into a dive and was recovering the aircraft but ran out of height and dived into the ground near the airfield at Sherburn in Elmet. Members of the club were watching the aeroplane at the time and saw it crash into a field three fields away from their hanger. While they pulled the pilot from the wreckage, he sadly received fatal injuries and died soon after. This aeroplane crashed within yards of where the club's first fatal crash occurred in September 1927.
Pilot - Mr Albert Critchley, aged 30. Buried Heaton Cemetery, Bolton, Lancashire.
Albert Critchley was the son of Edward and Betsy Critchley and was born on 7th December 1897 in Bolton. He had served in the RFC and later the RAF during the First World War until ending his service in March 1919. By 1928 he had joined the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club and was intending on applying for a B-Licence had he not died in February 1928.
Registration G-EBRG cancelled by the Air Ministry 2/5/1928 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawal from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1929.htm
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/10/C112: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576580
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E3.html
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-EBRG.pdf
5. Air Yorkshire magazine June 2002 page 29: http://s617306976.websitehome.co.uk/AYASMagazines/AY%20June%202002.pdf
6. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/82-register-gb-g-eb
7. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york20/ebrg.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherburn-in-Elmet_Airfield#Pre-War_and_Wartime_history
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Jun-2018 00:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-May-2024 09:22 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Operator, ] |
| 26-Jul-2025 16:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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