Date:	Friday 3 May 1940
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide
Owner/operator:	6 AONS RAF
Registration:	G-AEMM
MSN:	6339
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near RAF Staverton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Staverton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
c/no 6339: Registered G-AEMM [C of R 7262] 31.8.36 to Anglo-Iranian Oil Co Ltd, Abadan, Persia (Iran). C of A 5640 issued 10.10.36. Returned to Heston 30.11.38 and registration cancelled 1.1.39. Re-registered 17.3.39 to Airwork Ltd., Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex. Registration cancelled 1.4.39 as sold. Re-registered 21.10.39 to Airwork Ltd, Iver, Buckinghamshire; operated by 6 CANS (Civil Air Navigation School), RAF Staverton; later renamed 6 AONS (Air Observer Navigation School).

Destroyed in Mid air collision near Staverton, Gloucestershire 3.5.40: both crew killed. Crew details not known, but the pilot's surname was "Barclay"; as there seems to be no record with the CWGC, he was probably a civilian trainee pilot.

Registration G-AEMM belatedly cancelled by the Air Ministry post war, on 30.3.46, due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft". A note on the aircraft's record card states "(Census Return 1945)"; which indicates that the Air Ministry were only made aware of the demise of G-AEMM after a return from the last registered owners, in response to the Air Ministry's 1945 census into the existence (or not) of all UK-registered pre-war civil aircraft. As far as is known, G-AEMM was never formally impressed into military service, in that a military serial number is not known to have been allocated to this airframe.

1. 6 AONS Operational Record Book for the period 1 May 1938 to 31 December 1944: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/546/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160826
2. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89a-dragon-rapide-raf-staverton-2-killed
3. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AEMM.pdf
5. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/79-register-gb-g-ae
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A9.html
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?19285-Dh89-Rapide-G-AEMM-Collision-3-May-1940
8. http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/OldAccs/May40.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Staverton#History

RAF Staverton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 1941

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
12-Dec-2011 09:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ]
10-Jan-2013 12:56	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative, ]
26-Oct-2017 20:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
28-Jan-2018 22:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Feb-2019 20:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, ]
10-Mar-2019 18:32	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, ]
01-Aug-2024 09:59	Nepa	Updated [Location, Operator, ]
15-Mar-2025 22:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]