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| Date: | Wednesday 11 September 1929 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Fokker-Grulich F.III |
| Owner/operator: | British Air Lines |
| Registration: | G-AALC |
| MSN: | 1558 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Plough Lane, north of Croydon, Surrey, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Croydon Airport, Surrey (EGCR) |
| Le Touquet, Pas De Calais, Fr. (LFAT) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Ex-D-526, T-DOFF, then to OY-DUC: to G-AALC 17.8.1929. Written off on the night of 10-11.9.1929 a few minutes after takeoff from Croydon Airport. The airplane suffered technical problems and crashed onto a house in Plough Lane, north of Croydon. While the aircraft was damaged beyond repair, all six occupants (crew of two plus four passengers) were slightly injured and no one on ground was hurt. According to the following published source (see link #8)
"In November 2015 I was contacted by Ian Elliott who had come across some newspaper cuttings in an old family album. On the 11th September 1929 the Fokker-Grulich F.III G-AALC, operated by British Air Lines, had failed to lift off during its take-off run to Le Touquet in northern France. The newspaper report was, typically, utter nonsense in most respects and also stated that just two people were on board. A report on the accident which I have found states that six people were on board, including the pilot, and none were injured - or at least not seriously. However, the cause of the accident was not explained, and indeed, may very well have been an unsolved mystery. In those days the science of accident investigation was still in its infancy.
At the end of the (probably aborted take-off run?) the Fokker ran through a hedge and ended up in the conservatory of a house on Plough Lane. This house was built by Ian's grandfather and his father (aged 25) and his mother were around at the time but fortunately well out of harms way. As an amusing aside Ian explained that the insurance company gathered all the grapes from the vine inside the conservatory, weighed them, and paid the market price in full. The reason for this being that it was feared the grapes could contain shards of glass. I mention this to also illustrate that all on board the Fokker, after demolishing a conservatory, appear to have had an almost miraculous escape with so much smashed glass flying around. This said, it was obviously a low speed impact and, (presumably?), the engine was developing little or no power."
Registration G-AALC cancelled by the Air Ministry 29.9.29 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"
Sources:
1. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
2. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-AALC.pdf
3. http://www.europeanairlines.no/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/DDL_300109.pdf
4. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/Sep29.html
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-fokker-grulich-f3-near-croydon
6. http://www.oy-reg.dk/register/4677.html
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/11/C147: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576615
8. http://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Croydon-Airport
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15646.0
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Mar-2011 01:06 | Johnny Johnny | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Mar-2011 10:03 | TB | Updated [Date, Operator, Location, Source, ] |
| 26-Mar-2011 10:04 | TB | Updated [Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 14-Jun-2013 08:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Dec-2013 20:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Nov-2017 20:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 22-Jun-2018 21:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, ] |
| 02-Mar-2020 01:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, ] |
| 02-Mar-2020 01:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, ] |
| 26-May-2024 10:41 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator, ] |
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