Date:	Monday 17 April 1922
Time:	day
Type:	Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2E
Owner/operator:	Royal Aero Club
Registration:	G-EAVS
MSN:	C7197
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 17 April 1922 B.E.2e G-EAVS, owned by the Royal Aero Club and which had competed in the previous year's Aerial Derby and the Oxford & Cambridge Air Race, crashed at Croydon Airport, Surrey, apparently while trying to avoid a collision between Martinsyde F.4 (G-EAXB) and the S.E.5A (G-EAXU).

According to a contemporary newspaper report (Croydon Times - Saturday 22 April 1922):

Well over 10,000 attended the air races, arranged by the Royal Aero Club, at the Waddon Aerodrome on Easter Monday afternoon...

At the end of the Second Croydon Handicap an accident befell Vice-Admiral Mark Kerr on a B. E. 2e. and Major Henry Petre on an Avro-Le Rhone. Major Petre had passed his opponent, but the admiral by a clever turn at the last angle had brought matters almost level. He landed just after Major Petre, and in taking measures to avoid fouling the first machine lost speed, and found that he had little control over his own mount. This was after landing. One of his wing-tips struck the earth and sustained damage. The admiral, who was none the worse save for a a slight cut on a knuckle, remarked afterwards, "I have been flying for nine years, and that's the first time I have broken anything." The admiral, though then 50 years of age, learned to fly in the early stages of the war."

According to a contemporary newspaper report on the incident ("Birmingham Daily Gazette" - Tuesday 18 April 1922)

"AIR RACE THRILL IN A GALE.
Flying Admiral Nose Dives on Landing.
2,000 FT. DESCENT BY PARACHUTE.
There were thrills in plenty at Croydon Aerodrome yesterday, when aeroplane races, balloon sniping competitions, and parachute descents took place in a 30-mile an hour gale.

Two machines collided on landing and Vice-Admiral Mark Kerr had a nose dive, but fortunately the pilots escaped injury".

The pilot survived this incident and, as noted in his biography (see link #7), "Having retired from the RAF in October 1918. He later became a writer, dying at the age of 79 in 1944".

Note the contemporary newspaper report names Croydon Airport as "Waddon Airport". This is not unusual: Croydon Airport was known under eight different names while it was active (1920-1959)

1. Croydon Times - Saturday 22 April 1922
2. Edinburgh Evening News - Tuesday 18 April 1922
3. Birmingham Daily Gazette - Tuesday 18 April 1922
4. G-EAVS History 1921-1922: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-EAVS.pdf.
5. http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/9-races/67-aerial-derby-1921
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accb1929.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kerr_(Royal_Navy_officer,_born_1864)#Naval_career
8. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-EAVS.html
9. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-ea/g-ean-to-az?highlight=WyJnLWVhdnMiXQ==
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-E1.html
11. Related crash of Martinsyde F.4 G-EAXB: https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/234320
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon_Airport#Origin

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Sep-2024 16:00	Dr. John Smith	Added