1962 Channel Airways Dakota accident
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 6 May 1962 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site |
St Boniface Down, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom 50°36′10″N 1°11′52″W / 50.6027°N 1.1977°WCoordinates: 50°36′10″N 1°11′52″W / 50.6027°N 1.1977°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas C-47A Dakota |
| Operator | East Anglian Flying Services trading as Channel Airways |
| Registration | G-AGZB |
| Flight origin | Jersey Airport, Jersey, Channel Islands |
| Destination | Portsmouth Airport, Portsmouth, England |
| Passengers | 15 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 12 |
| Survivors | 5 |
The 1962 Channel Airways Dakota accident occurred on 6 May 1962 when a Channel Airways [N 1] Douglas C-47A Dakota registered G-AGZB operating a scheduled passenger flight from Jersey to Portsmouth collided with a cloud-covered hill at St Boniface Down near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. The aircraft had previously been owned by British European Airways, then named "Robert Smith-Barry". The aircraft was destroyed and twelve of the eighteen occupants were killed (all three crew members and nine out of 15 passengers, including three infants).[1][2][3]
Accident
The Dakota was on a scheduled flight from Jersey to Southend with a stop at Portsmouth with 15 passengers.[1][4] With low cloud and drizzle in the Portsmouth/Isle of Wight area, the aircraft notified the controller that they were descending from 3,000 to 1,000 feet.[1][4] The aircraft was seen flying low over Ventnor just before it crashed fifty feet below the summit of St Boniface Down close to a disused Royal Air Force radar site.[1][2] The aircraft bounced and smashed through a ten-foot high perimeter fence of the radar site and burst into flames, both pilots and eight of the passengers were killed instantly.[2] The first man on the scene, a farm worker, helped two badly burned girls from the wreckage; after leading two other men to safety he ran up the road to find help where he found a group of seven amateur radio amateurs operating as G3GWB/p [5] taking part in a competition.[2] The radio amateurs alerted another amateur radio operator in Southampton (G3NIM in Netley) who contacted the emergency services.[2] The seven injured were taken to a local hospital at Ryde and Newport; two of them, a stewardess and a passenger, subsequently died.[2]
Aftermath
A Coroner's Inquest was opened and then adjourned for two months on the Isle of Wight on 8 May.[6] The Channel Airways chief pilot said it was the company's first fatal accident in 17 years of operation.[6] The coroner paid tribute to those who took part in the rescue operation, and in particular Edward Price, the farmworker who was first on the scene.[6]
Probable cause
The probable cause was the result of poor airmanship in flying below a safe altitude in bad weather and hitting cloud-covered high ground.[1]
References
- Notes
- ↑ The operator was East Anglian Flying Services who operated under the name Channel Airways
- Citations
- 1 2 3 4 5 Civil Aviation Authority 1974, p. 11/62
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ten Killed in Holiday Air Crash – 3 Babies Among The Dead – Dakota Hits Hill in Fog, Seven Injured". News. The Times (55384). London. 7 May 1962. col A, p. 10.
- ↑ Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
- 1 2 "Channel Airways Tragedy". Flight International: 773. 17 May 1962.
- ↑ Isle of Wright Dakota Crash. The Shortwave Magazine, June 1962, p.188f
- 1 2 3 "Inquest Opened on Air Crash Victims". News. The Times (55386). London. 9 May 1962. col C, p. 15.
- Bibliography
- World Accident Summary. Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom). 1974. ISBN 0-903083-44-2.