Meopham air disaster
Encyclopedia
The Meopham Air Disaster occurred on 21 July 1930 when a Junkers F.13
ge from Le Touquet to Croydon with two crew and four passengers crashed near Meopham
, Kent, with the loss of all on board. The report of the inquiry into the accident were made public, the first time in the United Kingdom that an accident report had been published.
ge G-AAZK, c/n 2052. The aircraft had been registered on 26 May 1930.
G-AAZK which was owned by the pilot Lieutenant-Colonel George Henderson had been loaned to the Walcot Air Line to operate a charter flight between Le Touquet in France and Croydon Airport
south of London. As the aircraft was above Kent it appeared to have disintegrated and crashed near the village green at Meopham five miles south of Gravesend
. Witnesses reported a rumbling noise just before the crash and that the aircraft emerged from a cloud and then broke apart in mid-air. The crash happened at 2:35 pm.
All the occupants except the pilot fell from the aircraft and ended up in an orchard, all of them dead. The fuselage and one wing of the aircraft crashed close to a bungalow, the other wing was found a mile away. The tail was 300 yards from the crash site in a field. The engine fell into the drive an unoccupied house just missing a gardener working nearby. One of the villagers rescued the co-pilot Charles Shearing from the wreckage and carried him into the bungalow, a retired surgeon who lived nearby was soon on the scene but Shearing died soon afterwards.
a former soldier and politician. Viscountess Ednam the wife of the Viscount Ednam
and sister of the Duke of Sutherland
. The other two passengers were Sir Edward Ward and Mrs Sigrid Loeffler.
Inquiry.
The inquest resumed on 13 August and heard more reports from witnesses and technical evidence from the investigation. The head of the Air Ministry investigation said the removal of parts of the wreckage for souvenirs had not helped his work. The investigation had shown no evidence of faulty material or bad workmanship but it was clear that the port wing had folded or collapsed upwards where it joined the fuselage. The engine and tail plane had broken away and the passengers were thrown out of the aircraft. The coroner directed that as a government inquiry would be held then some of the technical details of the accident need not be heard. The coroner could see no reason to further delay the verdict until after the inquiry by the Aeronautical Research Committee
. The jury returned a verdict "that the victims met their death falling from an aeroplane, the cause of the accident being unknown".
arrived from Germany. The investigation was assisted by personnel from the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt, the National Physical Laboratory and the Royal Aircraft Establishment
.
Following the initial accident investigation an inquiry by the Accidents Investigation sub-committee of the Aeronautical Research Committee was opened on 3 September 1930. The inquiry was held at Croydon Airport in private and the members inspected the wreckage. The periodical Flight, in its issue dated 5 September 1930 called for the results of the investigation to be made public. It further called for all investigations into aircraft accidents to be made public. It also reported that representatives of some of the victims desired to ask questions at the enquiry. This was refused by Major Cooper, the Air Ministry
inspector in charge of the investigation. Major Cooper stated that solicitors for the victims would each receive a copy of the report when it was published.
The final report was issued in January 1931 and the committee concluded the cause to be the "failure of the tailplane under severe buffeting from air eddies produced by the centre section of certain low-wing monoplanes when the aircraft approaches the stalling attitude".
They reported that the aircraft flying in cloud may have been thrown into an unusual attitude which resulted in buffeting of the tailplane causing the port tailplane to fail and the aircraft entered a dive. The flutter effect on the starboard tailplane caused it to fail next the aircraft moving at high speed and reached a stalling attitude causing the port wing to break away. The rapid angular acceleration caused the engine supports to break and the engine to fall away. Nine other causes were investigated but dismissed by the committee.
Junkers F.13
The Junkers F.13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold...
ge from Le Touquet to Croydon with two crew and four passengers crashed near Meopham
Meopham
Meopham is a large linear village and civil parish in the Borough of Gravesham and ceremonial county of Kent, in England, and lies to the south of Gravesend. The parish covers , and comprises two villages and two smaller settlements; it has a population of 6,427...
, Kent, with the loss of all on board. The report of the inquiry into the accident were made public, the first time in the United Kingdom that an accident report had been published.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was Junkers F.13Junkers F.13
The Junkers F.13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold...
ge G-AAZK, c/n 2052. The aircraft had been registered on 26 May 1930.
Accident
The Junkers F.13ge registeredAircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
G-AAZK which was owned by the pilot Lieutenant-Colonel George Henderson had been loaned to the Walcot Air Line to operate a charter flight between Le Touquet in France and Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport was an airport in South London which straddled the boundary between what are now the London boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport...
south of London. As the aircraft was above Kent it appeared to have disintegrated and crashed near the village green at Meopham five miles south of Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. Witnesses reported a rumbling noise just before the crash and that the aircraft emerged from a cloud and then broke apart in mid-air. The crash happened at 2:35 pm.
All the occupants except the pilot fell from the aircraft and ended up in an orchard, all of them dead. The fuselage and one wing of the aircraft crashed close to a bungalow, the other wing was found a mile away. The tail was 300 yards from the crash site in a field. The engine fell into the drive an unoccupied house just missing a gardener working nearby. One of the villagers rescued the co-pilot Charles Shearing from the wreckage and carried him into the bungalow, a retired surgeon who lived nearby was soon on the scene but Shearing died soon afterwards.
Passengers
The passengers included Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and AvaFrederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava DSO, PC , styled Lord Frederick Blackwood between 1888 and 1918, was a British soldier and politician.-Background:...
a former soldier and politician. Viscountess Ednam the wife of the Viscount Ednam
William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley
William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley, MC , known as Viscount Ednam until 1932, was a British Conservative politician.-Biography:...
and sister of the Duke of Sutherland
George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland
George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland PC, KT , styled Earl Gower until 1892 and Marquess of Stafford between 1892 and 1913, was a British courtier, patron of the film industry and Conservative politician...
. The other two passengers were Sir Edward Ward and Mrs Sigrid Loeffler.
Inquest
An inquest into the deaths was opened at Meopham Green on 23 July 1930. After hearing identification evidence for the victims and testimony from some of the witnesses the inquest was adjourned until August pending results from an Air MinistryAir Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
Inquiry.
The inquest resumed on 13 August and heard more reports from witnesses and technical evidence from the investigation. The head of the Air Ministry investigation said the removal of parts of the wreckage for souvenirs had not helped his work. The investigation had shown no evidence of faulty material or bad workmanship but it was clear that the port wing had folded or collapsed upwards where it joined the fuselage. The engine and tail plane had broken away and the passengers were thrown out of the aircraft. The coroner directed that as a government inquiry would be held then some of the technical details of the accident need not be heard. The coroner could see no reason to further delay the verdict until after the inquiry by the Aeronautical Research Committee
Aeronautical Research Committee
The Aeronautical Research Committee was a UK government committee established in 1919 in order to coordinate aeronautical research and education following World War I...
. The jury returned a verdict "that the victims met their death falling from an aeroplane, the cause of the accident being unknown".
Investigation
The Junkers was an all-metal aircraft and had only flown about 100 hours since new and the flight was the third that day, Henderson had earlier flown his wife from Le Touquet to Croydon and had returned for four more passengers before going back again for the remaining four. Early indication showed that the port wing had become detached from the fuselage. The wreckage was removed to Croydon for investigation and four representatives from JunkersJunkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG , more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft manufacturer. It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers,...
arrived from Germany. The investigation was assisted by personnel from the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt, the National Physical Laboratory and the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
.
Following the initial accident investigation an inquiry by the Accidents Investigation sub-committee of the Aeronautical Research Committee was opened on 3 September 1930. The inquiry was held at Croydon Airport in private and the members inspected the wreckage. The periodical Flight, in its issue dated 5 September 1930 called for the results of the investigation to be made public. It further called for all investigations into aircraft accidents to be made public. It also reported that representatives of some of the victims desired to ask questions at the enquiry. This was refused by Major Cooper, the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
inspector in charge of the investigation. Major Cooper stated that solicitors for the victims would each receive a copy of the report when it was published.
The final report was issued in January 1931 and the committee concluded the cause to be the "failure of the tailplane under severe buffeting from air eddies produced by the centre section of certain low-wing monoplanes when the aircraft approaches the stalling attitude".
They reported that the aircraft flying in cloud may have been thrown into an unusual attitude which resulted in buffeting of the tailplane causing the port tailplane to fail and the aircraft entered a dive. The flutter effect on the starboard tailplane caused it to fail next the aircraft moving at high speed and reached a stalling attitude causing the port wing to break away. The rapid angular acceleration caused the engine supports to break and the engine to fall away. Nine other causes were investigated but dismissed by the committee.