6 March 1934 – T E Richardson at Hedon Aerodrome – Blackburn L.1C Bluebird IV – G-AABV – Dr John Hugh Paton – Duty. Private flight
Location – Crashed near Hedon Aerodrome
The aircraft was registered to Mr T E Richardson of Hedon Aerodrome. On the afternoon Dr Paton travelled to the aerodrome and borrowed the aircraft stating to the chief instructor that he had the permission of the owner to use the aircraft. Having no reason to disbelieve him the chief instructor checked the aircraft for fuel and confirmed the engine was running properly. Dr Paton informed the chief instructor he was going to perform some aerobatics. It later transpired that Dr Paton had not obtained permission from the owner to use his aircraft and indeed had not spoken to him for 6 months.
The Bluebird took off at 1720 hrs and after climbing to 2000 ft and carried out one loop. He made 3 attempts to carry out a slow roll but the aircraft stalled in the early stage of the roll each time. After each attempt the aircraft levelled out at around 1500 ft. During the fourth attempt at a roll the aircraft became inverted and side-slipped and dived towards the ground. The pilot was able to partially regain control before it stalled and fell into the ground. The pilot received fatal injuries in the resulting crash in the Fairbank area and died in hospital the following day. No technical defect was found in the aircraft and the investigation blamed pilot error.
Dr John Hugh Paton – 34 – Rosmin Edinburgh – Cremated and his ashes scattered over the North Sea by an aircraft from Brough.
Dr Paton was born on 17th March 1899 and was flying during WW1. He later transferred to the RAF Reserve and had done a considerable amount of flying at Brough with the RAF and also at Hedon but in their club Moth aircraft. He had had little experience in flying a Blackburn Bluebird, having flown G-AABV just once and briefly. A newspaper report after this fatal crash states that he had had two minor crashes recently.
Compiled by David Fell. Photo Wiki
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