The 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash occurred on the Isle of Wight in England on 15 November. With 45 lives lost, at the time it was the second worst aircraft accident within the United Kingdom, then at the time the worst ever air disaster to occur on English soil.[1]
 Aquila Airways Short Solent G-AKNU | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 November 1957 |
| Summary | Engine stoppage |
| Site | Near Chessell, Isle of Wight, England 50°40′05″N 1°26′37″W / 50.6681°N 1.4435°W |
| Aircraft type | Short Solent 3 |
| Aircraft name | City of Sidney |
| Operator | Aquila Airways |
| Registration | G-AKNU |
| Flight origin | Southampton Water |
| Passengers | 50 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 45 |
| Survivors | 13 |
Accident sequence
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The aircraft, an Aquila Airways Short Solent 3 flying boat named the City of Sydney, registered G-AKNU, departed Southampton Water at 22:46 on a night flight to Las Palmas and Madeira via Lisbon. At 22:54 the crew radioed to report that the number 4 propeller had been feathered (No. 4 engine feathered. Coming back in a hurry.[2] ). During an attempt to return, the Solent crashed into a disused chalk pit adjacent to heavily forested downland. The crash site is on a steep eastern slope of Shalcombe Down, above the small villages of Chessell and Shalcombe. At the time of impact the plane was banked 45 degrees to the right, the same side of the aircraft that had lost all engine power according to the accident report. The aircraft caught fire on impact. However three soldiers on a night-exercise were close by when the crash happened and were on the scene within minutes; they managed to rescue some of the survivors from the burning wreckage, suffering burns as they did so.[3]
Except for the tail, the aircraft was destroyed. Of the 58 on board, 45 were killed and 13 injured.[4] Initially 43 perished, but two more later succumbed to their injuries.[5]
In the days following, the crash-site became a scene of morbid interest and crowds of people came to see it; a police presence was required to keep them at distance.[3]
Possible causes
editA public inquiry by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Ministry of Transport[6] concluded that the essential cause remains unknown.[2] The accident was caused by the stoppage of the No.3 engine while the No.4 engine was also stopped. What caused the initial failure of the No.4 engine is unknown. The cause of the subsequent number 3 engine stoppage was either an electrical failure in the fuel cutoff actuator circuit or the accidental operation of the cutoff switch.[1]
Legacy
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The soldiers who rescued crash survivors later received awards for their actions; Major W.J.F. Weller and Lieutenant J.R. Sherbourn were made Members of the Order of the British Empire, Company quartermaster sergeant J.W. Reid, was awarded the British Empire Medal.[7]
Aquila Airways, after operating for 10 years announced in July 1958 it would cease operations, nine months after the crash.[8]
A 50th anniversary memorial service was held in the village of Brook, Isle of Wight on 18 November 2007 to commemorate the lives lost.[9] In October 2008 a permanent memorial was dedicated at Brook's St Mary's Church, about 0.7 miles (1.1 km) due south of the crash site.[5][10]
Notes
edit- ^ a b Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ a b "Solent Accident Report". Flight. 8 August 1958. p. 208. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. – brief summary of accident report
- ^ a b "45 Dead in Flying Boat Crash". The Times. No. 54001. London. 18 November 1957. p. 12.
- ^ Flight, 22 November 1957, p. 793
- ^ a b Memorial to island plane crash, BBC, 12 October 2008
- ^ "Aquilla Airways, Ltd., Short Solent Flying Boat, G-AKNU, crashed between Chessel and Brook on the Isle of Wight, on November 1957" (PDF) (54). Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (UK) CAP 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2021.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) 11-page extract from ICAO Circular 56-AN/51 (p.227-237), hosted by baaa-acro.com (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives) - ^ "Air Crash Rescue Awards". The Times. No. 54310. London. 17 November 1958. p. 12.
- ^ "Aquila Airways To Cease Operations". The Times. No. 54206. London. 18 July 1958. p. 6.
- ^ Flying Boat Disaster, BBC South Today
- ^ "Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight - Brook Short Solent air disaster". isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
References
edit- Flight, 22 November 1957, p. 793 (PDF) – early description of the accident
- Flight, 8 August 1958, p. 208 (PDF) – brief summary of the published accident report
External links
edit- Photographs of the crash site taken in 1957, 1995 and 2005
- Two former Aquilla Airways employees discuss the crash in a 2017 video on YouTube
- British Pathe newsreel footage taken of the crash wreckage (silent) on YouTube (alternate link) on BritishPathe.com
- Newspaper clippings about the accident at PPRuNe
- "Service to mark 50 years since Isle of Wight Plane Crash" at Christian Today – includes brief eyewitness account
- "An emotional return", (PDF) Frontline – The newspaper of Hampshire Constabulary, November 2006, p. 15.