Incident Overview

Date: Tuesday 5 September 1939
Aircraft Type: Vickers Valentia Mk V
Owner/operator: 1 E&WS RAF
Registration Number: K2345
Location: RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire, England – ÿ United Kingdom
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Component Affected: Vickers Victoria aircraftVickers Victoria aircraft
Category: Accident
On September 4th or 5th, 1939, a Vickers Victoria aircraft, K2345, overshot a landing at RAF Catterick due to wet grass. The aircraft ran through a hedge and landed close to the A1 road, resulting in minor injuries to the pilot. The aircraft was recovered and subsequently transferred to various units before being eventually returned to Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.On September 4th or 5th, 1939, a Vickers Victoria aircraft, K2345, overshot a landing at RAF Catterick due to wet grass. The aircraft ran through a hedge and landed close to the A1 road, resulting in minor injuries to the pilot. The aircraft was recovered and subsequently transferred to various units before being eventually returned to Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.

Description

On either 4th or 5th September 1939 (the exact date of the accident is not known) this aircraft overshot a landing at RAF Catterick when the grass runway was wet and shorter than was required for this larger twin engined bi-plane to land on. The aircraft ran through the boundary hedge and came to rest on or very close to the A1 road. There were a number of people on board but the only injuries are believed to have been to the pilot. Valentia K2345 was built by Vickers (Aviation) Ltd., at Weybridge as a Vickers Victoria and was delivered to the Director of Technical Development (Air Ministry) at Vickers on 2nd October 1931. It was flown to the RAF Packing Depot at Sealand on 10th November 1931 and sent by ship to the Aircraft Depot at Hinaidi, arriving their on 5th December 1931 where it was assembled and prepared for use by 70 Squadron at Hinaidi. It later transferred to 216 Squadron at Heliopolis on 12th January 1933 and then to the RAE at Farnborough, arriving there on 13th October 1933 for loudspeaker trials. It returned to Vickers (Aviation) Ltd at Weybridge for conversion to Valentia on 21st August 1934 and on completion of conversion it was passed to 2 ASU (Aircraft Storage Unit) at Cardington on 1st March 1935. It was then issued to the Electrical and Wireless School (E&WS) at Cranwell on 14th January 1936. E&WS became 1 E&WS on 1st November 1938.

Primary Cause

Wet grass conditions on the runway.Wet grass conditions on the runway.

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