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I started my New Years resolution today which is to try and climb Pen Y Fan at least once a month!
This is the remains of a Piper Tomahawk which crash landed on the mountain November 26th 2010. Fortunately, the pilot walked away! More info can be found here
My peaceful lunch was disturbed when I heard a loud and LONG screech followed by four or five crashes. I jumped out of my car knowing it was an accident and walked about a half a block to see what happened. This car was traveling quite fast and decided to pass a turning car but didn't see the SUV coming toward him. He flew off the road, down the 10 foot hill, through the corner of a fence, over a small tree and finally hit a large tree.
The driver appeared slightly injured but was walking around and talking just fine. He was lucky the little two year old girl I saw walking in the yard was not there when he crashed.
We're going to try and save the rest of the paint on the frame, which was just repainted this spring...damn.
Mosquito DZ698 crashed on the 6th December 1944 near the junction of Central Avenue and West Close, Fartown, Huddersfield.
51 Central Avenue was destroyed, another adjoining house, 61 West Close was severely damaged.
The pilot, who was killed, was
F/Lt. Ernest Robert James Blezard (24) RAFVR
He was from Huddersfield. Eyewitness accounts, which include his parents, state that he was seen circling the area in the Mosquito before the aircraft, appearing to dip a wing to one side, flipped over onto its back and plunged to earth.
The pilots mother saw it explode in a ball of flames on impact. His father states that although he didn’t know for sure, he suspected it may have been his son . All of which implies that the pilot was flying on a prearranged flypast of his home town. This makes what ensued even more tragic.
He joined up in 1940 and after initial training served in Canada as a Flying Instructor. Eight weeks before the crash he returned home and married local girl , Kathleen Grogan , on the 16th May 1944 at St. Brigid’s Church ,Longwood.
Three other people died in the crash they were residents of the houses.
They were ,
Mrs Flora May Dorothy Leighton (40)
and her two year old son ,
Rodney Bracken Leighton
of 51 Central Avenue
and
Mrs Henrietta Victoria Udell (64 or 62 , I found two different ages for her ,one is probaly a typo.)
of 61 West Close.
The reasons for the accident are unclear, perhaps a fault developed or perhaps it was pilot error , maybe even both . Some witnesses say that they saw flames coming from an engine before the crash , although the pilots father did not mention that in his statement .
According to the CWGC the pilot is buried at Edgerton Cemetery, Huddersfield , although I failed to find the grave. There are reports that he was interred at Almondbury Cemetery but I could not find him there either. This of course just means that I failed to find the grave ,not that it isnt there.
This aircraft had seen much service , working primarily as a Defensive Night Fighter for 151 Squadron before moving across to the Canadian 418 Squadron, after which it served two stints with 157 Squadron either side of a stint with the Polish 307 squadron , before finally being ‘retired’ to the 13 Operational Training Unit at Bicester . It was with this unit when the crash occurred . 494 aircraft of this specific type were built . The NF Mk II suffered from a paint problem in its early development. standard night fighter paint was used, its a black paint with a non-reflective rough finish. This ,unfortunately, slowed the aircraft down by 25 mph, and was replaced by a smooth black finish. This made it too visible on a moonlit night. Eventually they discovered that a mix of medium sea grey and dark green served the purpose the best , and was used for the rest of the war. So this would have been the colours of this aircraft at the moment of crashing.
This is not the first 13OTU Mosquito crash site that I have had cause to visit whilst pursuing my hobby
www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/4653463316/in/set-721576...
In the course of researching this crash I discovered that a newspaper article was written on it in 2008 in the Huddersfield Examiner (april 26th). I have deliberately not read this article so as not to copy it ad verbatim , but I did see it on a library visit in the archives. No doubt some of the info will be the same . The main source I have used is the original article in 1944 and info from a number of Mosquito dedicated websites on the internet.
The photograph I have taken is taken from my approximation of the same spot. The building in the background can still be seen ,the chimney position has been altered , there may have been damage to the gable wall which requied a substantial rebuild but the unusual high window bay can still be seen . A bungalow is now built on the crash site .
With support from Task Force Bronco 4, teams of Afghan National Army medical personnel, U.S. Soldiers and 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen removed portions of an Afghan Air Force Mi-17 helicopter after a crash in Kunar province. Officials indicated the Mi-17 was largely intact following the crash but more than 8,000 pounds of equipment including engines, main rotor gear box, auxiliary power unit, armor, rotor head and tail boom were removed for ease of transport. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)
While I like to go to live sports, I don't like watching on TV. The exception is NASCAR. I love the crashes! Here is a big crash of my Hot Wheels NASCAR racers. For Macro Mondays favorite TV show theme.
On 13 May 1986, an RAF Chinook HC1, ZA715 'Charlie' crashed in bad weather in the Falkland Islands. The helicopter, with four crew and 12 troops on board, ploughed into a hill 4 miles from its destination. With rescuers hampered by blizzards, the personnel were eventually recovered but one crew member had regrettably died shortly after the crash, and the co-pilot and a soldier died on the way to hospital. The subsequent board of enquiry concluded that the crew had become disorientated due to "white-out" conditions.
This is the remains of the front rotor and gearbox assembly, after recovery, parked well out of sight at Mount Pleasant Airport.
April1988