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
Fire service cleans up corrosive spill at the power station
- A corrosive spill at the power station managed to eat through two pumps before it could all be gathered up and safely contained.
- Read more…
Men on trial for Jersey Airways scam
- Three men appeared in court, accused of setting up a company designed to confuse investors who thought they were buying into Jersey Airways.
- Read more…
Edinburgh man is killed in Jersey quarry
- A man from Edinburgh was killed in a quarry in Jersey when he was buried in a landslide.
- Read more…
Ian Hislop’s Jersey connection revealed
- Presenter, writer and editor Ian Hislop discovered that he had connections to Jersey on the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?
- Read more…