Investigation Summary
The flight departed Jersey Airport at 10:50 AM for a scheduled service to Southampton. Weather conditions at the time were poor, characterized by an overcast sky and a very low cloud base measured between 120 and 150 feet. Despite these conditions, the aircraft was not fully loaded and had passed all recent inspections. Witnesses observed the aircraft climb into the overcast shortly after lifting off. While inside the clouds, the pilot initiated a left-hand climbing turn. During this maneuver, the aircraft inadvertently entered a sideslip. Because of the extremely low altitude, the pilot was unable to recover before the aircraft emerged from the clouds in a stalled condition. The DH.86 struck the ground approximately 500 yards east of the airport in the parish of Saint Brelade. The impact was followed by an explosion and a fierce fire that consumed the wooden-framed airliner. The wreckage slid across the field and struck an earth bank, killing farm hand Edmund Le Cornu. The force of the crash was so severe that several bodies were recovered up to 40 feet from the main wreckage site.
Final Conclusions
The Air Ministry investigation concluded that the accident was due to an error of airmanship. The pilot allowed the aircraft to fall into a sideslip while performing a climbing turn within a low cloud layer. The investigation determined that the maneuver was executed at an altitude insufficient to allow for recovery once control was lost. The final findings were formally presented during an inquest in April 1939.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Systems & Failure Modes
Airframe Structure
The DH.86 featured a wood and fabric construction; the impact with an earth bank caused the structure to break up and ignite.
Flight Controls
The investigation focused on the pilot's use of controls during a climbing turn in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) which led to a fatal sideslip.
Interesting Facts
- 01The accident resulted in 14 total fatalities: 1 crew member, 12 passengers, and 1 person on the ground.
- 02The ground fatality was Edmund Le Cornu, a farm hand working in the field where the plane crashed.
- 03The cloud base at the time of the accident was reported to be only 120 to 150 feet above the ground.
- 04The aircraft was a de Havilland DH.86 Express, a four-engine biplane airliner.
- 05At the time, it was the deadliest aviation accident on British territory and the second-deadliest involving a British rigid aircraft globally, after the 1933 Diksmuide crash.