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The Handley Page Hastings -> Hastings crashes on land -> Hastings TG602 at Shallufah 12th January 1953
Post Info TOPIC: Hastings TG602 at Shallufah 12th January 1953
JohnC


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RE: Hastings TG602 at Shallufah 12th January 1953
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Thanks very much for that Laurie I knew you would come up trumps with something

I was trying to piece together the London Gazette article with the crew and Caroline's conversation with me last night, the LG therefore suggested that P/O Wade had 18 months experience and that a more senior crew member was aboard suggesting he was First Pilot, thanks, you have confirmed this. We now have this conundrum as to why Modification 801 had not been carried out

We know that 602 was on detachment to RAF Fayid from RAF Abingdon, we also know that Fayid was one of the routes used to ferry troops and equipment to RAF Eastleigh for the Mau Mau uprising, so does this mean that the MOD 801 was waiting to be done on its return to Abingdon or had this MOD been overlooked as the kite was on an overseas detachment?

Looking through some of my extensive Hastings files 602 shows 'officially' to be the first time that there was an elevator bolt problem, but was it? One of the prototype Hastings crashed with 'tailplane problems' but more importantly TG603 crashed at Malta 6 months earlier having been blown off the runway at RAF Luqa, I have, over the years, been informed there was an 'elevator problem' on landing

Interestingly the accident record is 'missing', it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why MOD801 should be put in place, why would a MOD such as this be required before 602 crashed

Laurie does Colin have anything to say on this one ie TG603?

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Some of you Rigger lads would have done these MOD's they were also still ongoing in the late 50's & 60's [Rod Rumsby has described this in detail previously] can any of you add to this

It doesn't appear [yet] that the civvy version of the Hastings the HP Hermes had a similar problem regarding elevators, I have these books so must do some further reading on this........



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JohnC


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Richard Mills father should have been on this fateful flight as the Navigator, what a lucky escape...........

One morning as Detachment Commander I made out the flying detail, putting myself down as navigator with Flt. Lt. Ryder.  We were going to take some of our ground crew up with us as we carried out our continuation training.  Just as I was leaving our flight office to go out to the aircraft, the phone rang.  It was the Station Adjutant telling me the Group Captain wished to see me right away about a meeting with the army, so I put another navigator in my place and off I went to see the Big Man.  I had just got back into my own office when the phone rang and a voice said, 'This is the Control Tower:  do you own a Hastings No. TG 602?'  I said 'yes, we do', and he replied, 'Well, it has just crashed.'  I'll always remember my reply: 'Hastings don't crash', and he countered with 'Well this one has'.  And so it was.  Johnny Ryder, a very good pilot, had been treating the big plane like a Spitfire, part of the tailplane fell off and the Hastings nose-dived into the desert.  Ray Foreman and I immediately jumped into our Landrover and drove like mad down the Treaty Road to the southern end of the Zone, asked for directions and found the crash site.  All eleven on board had been killed outright.  It was a dreadful sight.  I salvaged a half crown piece that had been bent almost double which my wife treasured for the rest of her life as what might have been.  Back at Abingdon she (and others) knew one of our planes had crashed but it was three traumatic days before she learned for certain that I wasn't among the dead.  Fate - like the Athenia incident - had stepped in again.

There follows, I have to type this up, a letter from The Air Historical Branch at RAF Northolt and signed by a Flight Lieutenant to the daughter of the Co-Pilot who was one of the victims of TG602, a resume of the crash. In his letter he states that the AHB do not have the Board of Inquiry report as this was probably destroyed when Hastings aircraft were taken out of service .

The odd thing is he quotes from some document and then informs the daughter that a copy of the accident record card and the aircraft movement card can be obtained from the RAF Museum at Hendon, my guess is that he is quoting from this so I have to ask why did he not send the two 'cards' as was initially requested under the Freedom of Information Act

The RAF work in mysterious ways..........hmm  



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JohnC


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The letter from the AHB/MoD re TG602 to Caroline Dolby Bingham:

The information we have says that on 12th February 1953 [this should read January!] the crew of Hastings TG602 of Transport Command Air Support Force Detachment RAF Abingdon on attachment at RAF Fayid were detailed to undertake a 2 hour continuation training exercise. The aircraft took of [off!] at 0752 hours. Some 25 minutes later RAF personnel at RAF Shallufa saw the aircraft executing steep turns at a height of approximately 2000 feet. Shortly afterwards pieces of the tail unit were seen to fall from the aircraft. The aircraft the [then] dived steeply into the ground and all those on board were killed instantaneously. The Court found that the cause of the accident was a technical failure. The outer portion of the starboard elevator had become detached which in turn caused sufficient stress from the port elevator and tail plane to break away. The fracture of the starboard elevator had allowed the bolt to work through the top bracket and thereby overstress the bottom lug of the outrigger. The steep turns carried out by the aircraft increased this stress and caused the complete failure of the bracket.



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JohnC


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The last day [by law under The Freedom of Information Act 2000] The RAF Museum has sent me copies of the accident record wich was seemingly denied to one of the pilots families representative, there isn't much to be added to what we already know.

The accident does mention the Pilots Notes to be amended

The Take Off time was 0721hrs local

The crash time was 0753 hrs, so the aircraft had been airborne for 32 minutes

Pilot Ryder held a Master Green Instrument Rating Certificate

TCASF Transport Command Airborne Support Flight

The Duty has been shown as 'Continuation Training' [Ref CT Training see here http://rafforum.activeboard.com/t47655492/aircraft-continuation-training/ ]

8979385109_913b1e883f_b.jpg8980577892_5d8cd4eb22_b.jpg



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