Date:	Saturday 20 October 1928
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.60 Moth
Owner/operator:	Miss Sicele J.M. O'Brien
Registration:	G-EBOS
MSN:	268
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Mote Mount Golf Course, Mill Hill, Middlesex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex
Destination airport:	Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware, Middlesex

Narrative:
c/no. 268 DH.60 [Cirrus I]: registered G-EBOS [C of R 1283] 5.7.26 to The De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd, Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex; operated by the DeHavilland School of Flying. C of A 1009 issued 29.7.26. Sold and Re-registered [C of R 1451] 2.8.27 to Miss Sicele Julia Mary Annette O'Brien, Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex. With Lady Heath, set a British altitude record of 13,400 ft in 1928

Written off 20.10.28 when spun in and crashed at Mote Mount Golf Course, Mill Hill, Middlesex (interrupting a four-ball golf match). Cause of accident attributed to the pilot having not coupled up the rudder bar prior to the instructional flight. The pilot, Miss O'Brien, was badly injured, as was her passenger, Miss Mildred K Leith. Miss O'Brien broke a leg, which later had to be amputated. She continued to fly with an artificial limb fitted. "It was worth it", she said, "One has to take risks for anything that is worthwhile".

An account of the accident appeared in the Poverty Bay Herald, 22 October 1928, Page 7:

"TWO WOMEN INJURED
AEROPLANE CRASHES GOLF COURSE SENSATION
(Australian Press Assn.—United Service)
LONDON, Oct. 21.
While Tolley and Wethered, opposing Mitchell and C. Whitcombe, in a foursome at the opening of the new Mote Mount golf course, Mill Hill, were approaching the ninth hole - the crowd's attention was attracted to a Moth circling overhead in a boisterous wind. Suddenly the engines stopped, and the plane spun downwards, the pilot making a desperate effort to regain control. The plane nose-dived 300ft., crashing at the sixth tee.

The players flung down their clubs and joined the spectators in a rush for the plane and found two women in the wreckage. Miss Sicele O'Brien, daughter of Sir Timothy O'Brien, the second Englishwoman to obtain her commercial aviation certificate, was unconscious with a leg fractured and a foot nearly torn off. Miss O'Brien's pupil, the Hon. Mildred Katherine Leith, was severely cut about the body and face.

The golfers assisted the spectators to drag out the women, and a man seized the petrol tank, which was smashed off and leaking, and carried it to a distance, eliminating danger of fire. The suffering women were taken to hospital, where Miss O'Brien's leg was amputated at the knee. Bystanders pay a tribute to the aviatrix's pluck. Miss O'Brien, when placed in the ambulance, despite her pain, asked the extent of Miss Leith's injuries".

Registration G-EBOS formally cancelled by the UK Civil Aviation Authority 2.11.28 as destroyed

Despite her injuries, Miss O'Brien remained passionate about aviation, writing a number of articles and organising air rallies such as the May 1929 rally in Gleneagles. She continued to fly herself using an artificial leg. She worked on behalf of the Air League of the British Empire and was one of the two founders of the Aviation Ambulance Association of England. She lived at Earls Court Road in 1931.

She was killed in 1931 when her plane (Blackburn Bluebird III G-AABF) crashed on take-off at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The plane's co-owner, the explorer Enid Gordon-Gallien, was in the plane and also died in the crash (see separate entry). O'Brien left an estate worth just over £538.

The other person on board, the Hon. Mildred Katherine Leith (born 18.3.1894) recovered from her injuries. She died on 16.12.1980, aged 86 in Sussex,

1. Poverty Bay Herald, 22 October 1928, Page 7: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19281022.2.41
2. Auckland Sun (Auckland, New Zealand), 22 October 1928, Page 9: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNAK19281022.2.63
3. Waikato Times, 22 October 1928, Page 7: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19281022.2.53
4. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
5. The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld.) Monday 22 Oct 1928 Page 16: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21325787
6. Geelong Advertiser (Gelong Vic.) Mon 22 Oct 1928 Page 5: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232424218
7. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW) Monday 22 Oct 1928 Page 11: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16503565
8. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-EBOS.pdf
9. National Archives *(PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/10/C130: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576598
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-great-bitain-registers-g-eb/g-eb-part-2?highlight=WyJnLWVib3MiXQ==
11. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60-moth-mill-hill
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicele_O%27Brien#Flying
13. https://www.facebook.com/neworderaviation/posts/sicele-obrien-1-april-1887-18-june-1931-was-one-of-irelands-pioneering-pilots-sh/497231895287989/
14. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pioneering-women/obrien-sicele-julia-mary-annette?highlight=WyJnLWVib3MiXQ==
15. https://www.geni.com/people/Hon-Mildred-Leith/6000000056446080835
16. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pioneering-women/leith-mildred-katherine?highlight=WyJsZWl0aCJd
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Hill

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
10-Dec-2011 08:16	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
01-Sep-2017 21:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
20-Jun-2018 15:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source]
23-Sep-2023 06:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Departure airport, Source]]
19-Nov-2023 18:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative]