1962 Channel Airways Dakota accident

The Dakota was on a scheduled flight from Jersey to Southend with a stop at Portsmouth. There were 15 passengers aboard.[1][4] With low cloud and drizzle in the Portsmouth/Isle of Wight area, the aircraft notified the controller that they were descending from 3,000 to 1,000 feet.[1][4] The aircraft was seen flying low over Ventnor just before it crashed, fifty feet below the summit of St Boniface Down and close to a disused Royal Air Force radar site.[1][2] The aircraft bounced and smashed through a ten-foot high perimeter fence of the radar site and burst into flames. Both pilots and eight of the passengers were killed instantly.[2]

The first man on the scene, a farm worker, helped two badly burned girls from the wreckage. After leading two other men to safety, he ran up the road to find help. There he found a group of seven amateur radio operators broadcasting as G3GWB/p [5] who were taking part in a competition.[2] The radiomen alerted another amateur radio operator in Southampton (G3NIM in Netley), who contacted the emergency services.[2] The seven injured were taken to local hospitals at Ryde and Newport; two of them, a stewardess and a passenger, subsequently died.[2]

A coroner's inquest was opened and then adjourned for two months on the Isle of Wight on 8 May.[6] The Channel Airways chief pilot said it was the company's first fatal accident in 17 years of operation.[6] The coroner paid tribute to those who took part in the rescue operation, and in particular Edward Price, the farmworker who was first on the scene.[6]

The probable cause of the accident was flying below a safe altitude in cloudy, rainy weather.[1]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography