4th November 1938
The Jersey Airport disaster
The disaster, which killed two crew, twelve passengers and a farmhand occurred half a kilometre east of the runway as a plane made its initial ascent. It hit the ground during its initial turn and “there was a sharp explosion,” reported the Gloucester Citizen, “and the passengers were blown out of the machine, mutilated almost beyond recognition.” The plane, a Jersey Airways de Havilland DH86 called St Catherine’s Bay, had come down at 10.52am in dense, low cloud after 30 seconds in the air on its way to Southampton.
An SOS went out across the island, asking all doctors, ambulances and fire engines to attend the scene.
In a 2009 retrospective, the Jersey Evening Post said, “numerous people witnessed the crash, but its cause remains a mystery.” Those who saw it happen reported the engines revving furiously and, says the Jersey Evening Post, “There were suggestions that the pilot, AGM Cary, who had previously been the private pilot of the Viceroy of India, had been trying to make a forced landing but failed to touch down safely because the plane’s undercarriage hit the ground and then ploughed catastrophically through the hedge of the first field.”
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Other events that occured in November
Tarka the Otter released in cinemas
- Based on Henry Williamson’s novel of the same name, the screenplay for Tarka the Otter was co-written by Gerald Durrell, founder of Jersey Zoo.
- Read more…
Liberty Wharf shopping centre opens
- St Helier’s £40m Liberty Wharf occupies a former Victorian abattoir, and retains many of the listed building’s original features.
- Read more…
Admiral Thomas Gosselin dies in Jersey
- Admiral Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin was born in 1765 and died in Jersey on 27 November 1857 after an impressive career in the navy.
- Read more…
A Jersey ketch explodes in Bristol
- A Jersey ketch carrying 300 barrels of crude oil exploded in Bristol Docks, killing a captain and three others.
- Read more…