Lympne Airport - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

• On 29 March 1920, Nieuport Delage 30T F-CGTI of Compagnie Générale Transaérienne crashed at Lympne.
• On 26 April 1921, Salmson 2.A2 F-CMAE of Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes crashed at Lympne. The aircraft was later repaired and returned to service.
• On 15 November 1921, a Handley Page O/400 suffered engine failure shortly after passing Lympne on a flight from Paris to Croydon, resulting in the loss of a propeller. The aircraft made a forced landing at Lympne, damaging the undercarriage in the process.
• On 24 April 1923, Fokker F.III H-NABS of KLM departed Lympne for Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The aircraft was not heard of again. It was presumed to have crashed into the sea, killing the pilot and both passengers.
• On 7 May 1923, Farman F.63bis Goliath F-AEGP Flandre was involved in an accident at Lympne.
• On 8 February 1925, Farman Goliath F-GEAB of Air Union crashed whilst attempting to land at Lympne. The aircraft was on a cargo flight from Paris to Croydon when an engine failed over the Channel.
• On 18 August 1926, Blériot 155 F-AIEB Wilbur Wright of Air Union crashed 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Lympne, killing both crew and two passengers.
• On 17 January 1931, Breguet 280T F-AIVU of Air Union crashed whilst attempting to land at Lympne. The aircraft caught the boundary fence and crashed onto the airfield, damaging the forward fuselage and undercarriage. Of the eight people on board, one of the crew was injured.
• On 9 December 1937, Handley Page H.P.45 G-AAXD Horatius of Imperial Airways was struck by lightning whilst flying across the Channel from Paris to Croydon. A precautionary landing was made at Lympne where it was found that minor damage had been done to a wing.
• On 12 March 1938, ST25 Monospar G-AEJV crashed near Lympne when both engines cut out. Pilot Bill Davis, managing director of the Cinque Ports Flying Club, was among the four people killed.
• On 1 June 1938, Fokker F.VIIb/3m OO-AIL of SABENA crashed into the grounds of Sellindge Methodist Church whilst attempting to land at Lympne during a thunderstorm.
• In September 1938, Handley Page H.P.45 G-AAXD Horatius of Imperial Airways suffered damage to its port undercarriage and lower port wing in a forced landing at Lympne. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
• On 7 July 1939, de Havilland Hornet Moth G-AFAT crashed a Lympne, killing racing driver Clifton Penn-Hughes and his passengers.
• On 11 January 1947, Douglas DC-3 G-AGJX of British Overseas Airways Corporation crashed at Stowting. Six people were killed and ten injured. The aircraft was attempting to reach Lympne when it ran out of fuel, having aborted an attempt to land at Bordeaux Airport and other French airfields being closed due to fog. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight with a final destination in West Africa
• On 3 May 1949, Miles Aerovan G-AJKM of East Anglian Flying Services Ltd was blown over whilst being refuelled and damaged beyond economic repair.
• On 30 June 1950, DH.89 Dragon Rapide G-AKME caught fire whilst being refuelled and was burnt out.
• On 1 May 1961, DH.89 Dragon Rapide G-AGOJ was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Lympne.
• On 11 July 1965. Avro 748 G-ARMV of Skyways Coach-Air arriving from Beauvais was written off at Lympne when its nose-wheels dug into soft ground on the grass runway. The aircraft flipped over, losing its port wing in the process.