6th August 1970
Pilot killed in private plane crash
Pilot Kenneth Desmond was killed when the Beagle 206 Series 2 he was flying from Jersey to Guernsey lost power in both engines, stalled, span and crashed into an outbuilding shortly after take-off. When the engines were examined by investigators picking through the wreckage, they could find no reason for the malfunction and loss of power.
The officer in control of the aerodrome had been watching the aircraft through binoculars as the first of its propellers put out a couple of puffs of smoke and stopped turning. The officer gave Desmond clearance to return to the runway and put down but, as the pilot turned, his other engine stopped and he radioed “I’ve got the other engine going, I’m going down”.
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Other events that occured in August
Man held on St Helier stabbing charge
- A man who was convicted of manslaughter in Jersey was later found hanged in his cell.
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St Helier burned by a huge fire
- Dense clouds of smoke billowed above Fort Regent when commercial buildings caught fire in St Helier in August 1891.
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Explorer Major General Edward Thompson Dickson dies
- St Helier-born Edward Dickson saw much of the world at a time when travel was a far more arduous process than it is today.
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Law Lord who oversaw Channel Island refugees is born
- Herbert du Parcq chaired the Channel Islands Refugees Committee which raised funds for evacuated Channel Islanders.
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