Dunbeath air crash

The Dunbeath air crash involved the loss of a Mark 3 Short S.25 Sunderland that crashed in the Scottish Highlands on a headland known as Eagle's Rock (Creag na h-Iolaire) near Dunbeath, Caithness on 25 August 1942.[1][2] The crash killed 14 of 15 passengers and crew, including Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was on duty as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force on a mission to Reykjavik;[3] a message of condolence was proposed in Parliament by the British Prime Minister.[4] A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the crash was the result of a navigational error by the crew.[5]

Dunbeath air crash
Short Sunderland Mk. III (similar aircraft)
Accident
Date25 August 1942
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SiteEagle's Rock, near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland.
58°14.1781′N 3°30.5338′W
Aircraft typeShort Sunderland Mk. III
OperatorNo. 18 Group, Royal Air Force
RegistrationW4026
Flight originRAF Invergordon, Scotland
DestinationRAF Reykjavik, Iceland
Passengers4
Crew11
Fatalities14
Injuries1
Survivors1
Location of crash site

Background

The aircraft, assigned to 228 Squadron, was based at RAF Oban.[6] 228 Squadron was part of 18 Group, involved in long range maritime operations and particularly anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance and long range liaison flights.

Flight details

The aircraft and crew were assigned a VIP transport mission to RAF Reykjavik, specifically to transport Prince George, Duke of Kent to Iceland.[7] The aircraft departed from a seaplane base at RAF Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth at 1305 GMT on Sunday 25 August 1942 into foggy weather. The Sunderland (flying on instruments) veered off its flight plan track and crashed into the remote Eagle's Rock[8] at 13:42 GMT.[9] The official board of inquiry concluded that the plane crashed into the hillside due to an error of navigation; i.e. there was not enough allowance made for wind that caused the aircraft to drift off its planned track up the eastern coast of Scotland.[5][10] Fourteen of the fifteen crew and passengers, including His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, perished in the crash.[11][12]

The crash site memorial at Eagle's Rock.

Among those who died in the crash:[6][13]

Passengers

Crew

  • Flight Lieutenant Frank McKenzie Goyen, Aircraft Captain.
  • Pilot Officer Sidney Wood Smith RAAF, 2nd pilot.
  • Pilot Officer George Saunders, Navigator.

Aftermath

Sergeant Andrew Jack, the aircraft's Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, survived. Jack recovered from the injuries he sustained in the accident and would be later commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the General Duties Branch on 12 January 1945[14] and served in the RAF up until 1964; retiring as a Flight Lieutenant.[6][15] Jack died in Brighton in 1978 aged 56.[16]

Some of the 228 Squadron crew's remains were interred at Pennyfuir Cemetery in Oban[17] and the Duke of Kent, the first member of the British Royal Family to die in active military service for over 450 years,[18] was buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore.

A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the crash was the result of an error in navigation and noted that investigation at the crash site suggested that all four engines were at full power at the time of impact.[5]

References
  1. "BBC NEWS UK – Secret of duke's plane death". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  2. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Short Sunderland III W4026 Dunbeath, Scotland". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  3. "Mystery still surrounds Eagle's Rock air crash". www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  4. "Death of Air Commodore His Royal Highness the Duke Kent". House of Commons. Historic Hansard. 8 September 1942. c42. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. "Aircraft Accident, Court of Inquiry (Findings)". Written-Answers. Historic Hansard. 7 October 1942. c1228w. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. media, oban future. "Oban Royal Air Force Station, Scotland – The Flying Boat Squadrons". www.rafoban.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  7. Nesbit, Roy Conyers (2010). Missing: Believed Killed: Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Glenn Miller and the Duke of Kent. Pen and Sword. p. 106. ISBN 9781526704528. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. "THE CRASH OF THE DUKE OF KENT". www.iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Short Sunderland III W4026 Dunbeath, Scotland". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  10. "Short Sunderland W4026, Eagle's Rock, Caithness | Air Crash Sites-Scotland". www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. "DUKE OF KENT CRASH VICTIM! (August 26, 1942)". Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  12. info@undiscoveredscotland.co.uk, Undiscovered Scotland. "Eagle's Rock Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  13. Nesbit, Roy Conyers (2010). Missing: Believed Killed: Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Glenn Miller and the Duke of Kent. Pen and Sword. pp. 107–108. ISBN 9781848843196. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  14. "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 3 APRIL, 1945" (PDF). The London Gazette. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  15. Nesbit, Roy Conyers (2010). Missing: Believed Killed: Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Glenn Miller and the Duke of Kent. Pen and Sword. p. 125. ISBN 9781848843196. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  16. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
  17. Pennyfuir, Cemetery. "Frank Mackenzie Goyen ( – 1942) – Find A Grave Memorial". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  18. "Aviation - Newbattle at war". newbattleatwar.wordpress.com.
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