1949 Manchester DC-3 accident
Encyclopedia
The 1949 Manchester DC-3 accident occurred when a twin-engined British European Airways
Douglas DC-3 (registration: G-AHCY) crashed at Oldham
, near Manchester
after a flight from Belfast
. The accident killed 24 of the passengers and crew on board.
The aircraft had first flown in 1944, and was captained by F. W. Pinkerton, a former RAF serviceman who, as a sergeant, had been posted missing during World War II
. The airline was government-owned.
Nutts Corner Airport at 10:58 on a short-haul flight to Manchester Airport, with twenty-nine passengers and either three or four crew members on board. US newspaper reports, using agency reports filed soon after the incident, favour the former number of crew; Flight
Magazine, reporting a little time later, favoured the latter.
An hour after take-off, at 11:59, the last radio contact with the crew occurred and about one minute later the aircraft crashed. It was flying at approximately 1350 feet (411.5 m) when it hit a mist-covered hill (53°31.240′N 1°58.733′W) at Wimberry Stones, near to the Chew Valley
at Saddleworth
, Oldham
, 15 miles from Manchester Airport. Contact was made approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) from the summit. The aircraft broke up and caught fire. Twenty-one passengers and all the crew members died, leaving eight survivors.
The dead passengers consisted of eleven women, six men and four children, three of whom were aged under two years; the crew were all male. All but two of the dead died at the scene. The injured were treated at Oldham Infirmary. The rescue was hampered by the bad weather and remote location of the crash site. Workers from a paper mill approximately 0.75 miles away formed a human chain to carry the injured from the hillside to lower ground and a doctor at the scene said
The cause of the accident was an error in navigation, incorrect approach procedure and failure to check the position of the aircraft accurately before the descent from a safe height.
An hour later, a Proctor
light aircraft crashed on a test flight in mist at Baildon in Yorkshire, approximately 40 miles away. All four of its passengers died.
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
Douglas DC-3 (registration: G-AHCY) crashed at Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, near Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
after a flight from Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. The accident killed 24 of the passengers and crew on board.
The aircraft had first flown in 1944, and was captained by F. W. Pinkerton, a former RAF serviceman who, as a sergeant, had been posted missing during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The airline was government-owned.
Accident
The aircraft took off from BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
Nutts Corner Airport at 10:58 on a short-haul flight to Manchester Airport, with twenty-nine passengers and either three or four crew members on board. US newspaper reports, using agency reports filed soon after the incident, favour the former number of crew; Flight
Flight International
Flight International is a global aerospace weekly publication produced in the UK. Founded in 1909, it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine...
Magazine, reporting a little time later, favoured the latter.
An hour after take-off, at 11:59, the last radio contact with the crew occurred and about one minute later the aircraft crashed. It was flying at approximately 1350 feet (411.5 m) when it hit a mist-covered hill (53°31.240′N 1°58.733′W) at Wimberry Stones, near to the Chew Valley
Chew Valley
The Chew Valley is an area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham...
at Saddleworth
Saddleworth
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and others...
, Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, 15 miles from Manchester Airport. Contact was made approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) from the summit. The aircraft broke up and caught fire. Twenty-one passengers and all the crew members died, leaving eight survivors.
The dead passengers consisted of eleven women, six men and four children, three of whom were aged under two years; the crew were all male. All but two of the dead died at the scene. The injured were treated at Oldham Infirmary. The rescue was hampered by the bad weather and remote location of the crash site. Workers from a paper mill approximately 0.75 miles away formed a human chain to carry the injured from the hillside to lower ground and a doctor at the scene said
The cause of the accident was an error in navigation, incorrect approach procedure and failure to check the position of the aircraft accurately before the descent from a safe height.
An hour later, a Proctor
Percival Proctor
The Percival Proctor was a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor was a single-engine, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model.-Design and development:...
light aircraft crashed on a test flight in mist at Baildon in Yorkshire, approximately 40 miles away. All four of its passengers died.