ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 233320
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| Date: | Tuesday 16 August 1955 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | F.G. Miles Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AITS |
| MSN: | 1997 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Randolphs Farm, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Shoreham Airport West Sussex (EGKA) |
| Shoreham Airport, West Sussex (EGKA) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer Mk.III: Ex-RAF Miles Magister T9730. First registered (C of R 10971/1; C of A 9876) on 11-11-46 as G-AITS to Ann Valley Motors (Salisbury) Ltd., Salisbury, Wiltshire. Note that the aircraft's registration card lists the former RAF serial number T9730 as the c/no. instead of the official Miles Aircraft c/no. 1997. Registration cancelled upon sale 14-8-47.
Sold on and re-registered (C of R 10971/2, later C of R R876/2) on 15-11-47 to Squadron Leader John Francis West Gunston, Kings Lynn. Norfolk. Registration cancelled 25-5-51 upon sale
Sold on and re-registered (C of R R876/3) 8-6-51 to F.G. Miles Ltd., Redhill, Surrey. Owners address changed 25-11-53 to Shoreham Airport, Shoreham, West Sussex. During this period (1950-51) G-AITS played a starring role in the feature film "Mr. Denning Drives North". G-AITS was flown out of Luton Airport for the filming, but the wreckage and burning Miles M14A Hawk Trainer Mk.III that appeared in the film's crash sequence was obviously a completely different aircraft!
Written off (destroyed 16-8-55 when crashed at Randolphs Farm, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, killing the pilot, Flight Sergeant Anthony Kenneth Barry Willson. It seems that the pilot was "showing off" to his girlfriend, who lived in Hurstpierpoint, and crashed while giving an unauthorised impromptu air display. A contemporary newspaper report covers the funeral of the pilot ("West Sussex County Times" - Friday 26 August 1955)
CADETS LINED PATH TO THE CHURCH
Funeral of ATC Victim of Plane Crash
OFFICERS and cadets of 1440 (Shoreham) Squadron A.T.C. lined the path to Upper Beeding Parish Church at the funeral of Flight Sergeant Anthony Kenneth Barry Willson on Saturday. Flt.-Sgt. Willson crashed to his death at Hurstpierpoint on the previous Tuesday while flying solo in a Hawk Major training aircraft. His home was at Hedgerows, The Twitten, Upper Beeding.
At the service, conducted by the Rev. E. Street, a cadet bugler sounded the Last Post and Reveille at the graveside. The coffin was draped with the ensign of the A.T.C. Air Vice-Marshall A. L. Perry-Keene represented the Brighton Squadron, while the 1440 Squadron was led by its CO., F/Lt. H. S. Coleman.
At an inquest on Friday it was stated that 18-year-old Flt.-Sgt. Willson died instantly- death was due to a broken neck. After identification was given by the cadet's father Mr. Kenneth E. Willson, Dr. A. W. Gardner, Deputy Coroner for East Sussex, adjourned the inquest until today, when the cause of the accident will be dealt with.
Mr. G. M. Kelley of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, said that investigations had showed that the frame of the single-seater aircraft, flown by the youth from Shoreham Airport, was perfectly serviceable. Full investigations into the condition of the engine were still to be made and would be ready for a report to be submitted at today's hearing."
...and a later report in the same newspaper covers the inquest into the death of the pilot ("West Sussex County Times" - Friday 2 September 1955):
"'Flight Should Not Have Been Made'
The flight in which an 18-year-old A.T.C. student pilot was killed while over his girl-friend's home should never have been made, it was said at the Hassocks inquest on Friday on the death of F/Sgt. Anthony Kenneth Barry Willson, of Hedgerows, Upper Beeding.
Mr. Cecil Pashley, chief flying instructor at Shoreham Airport, said the instructions he gave the cadet before taking off were to complete two circuits and land. Local flying was limited to within three miles of the airfield, and for the cadet to have gone as far away as Hurstpierpoint was against orders.
Willson's girl-friend, Miss Pauline Harding, of Hurstpierpoint, said she was in the garden of her home when she heard the sound of the airplane which when it came closer she recognised.
"We sat in the garden watching it. I did not wave to him and he did not wave to me," she added.
A jury of seven men returned a verdict of death by misadventure. The cadet died instantaneously from a broken neck when the training 'plane crashed into a field on Randolphs Farm, Hurstpierpoint.
Registration G-AITS cancelled 22-9-55 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. West Sussex County Times - Friday 26 August 1955 (Report of funeral of pilot)
2. West Sussex County Times - Friday 02 September 1955 (report of inquest into pilots death)
3. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AITS.pdf
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14185.0
5. http://impdb.org/index.php?title=Mr._Denning_Drives_North
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Denning_Drives_North .
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Feb-2020 18:23 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 28-Feb-2020 18:25 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 28-Feb-2020 18:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jul-2020 20:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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