Stansted - Stansted

On April 1, 1958 at 11:13 AM, Stansted - Stansted experienced a crash involving Handley Page H.P.81 Hermes, operated by Skyways of London, with the event recorded near Meesden Hertfordshire.

The flight was categorized as test and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft took off on a test flight from Stansted Airport at 1059LT and climbed steeply towards the northwest. A few minutes later it was observed approaching the airport from the west at a height of approximately 1,500 feet. At 1113LT the Air Traffic Control Tower received a radio call from the aircraft in which the captain declared an emergency and said that the controls were jammed. At about the same time the aircraft was seen some 6 miles northeast of the airfield descending in a series of dives and climbs. It crashed in a field shortly thereafter killing the crew of three. The greater part of the wreckage was destroyed by fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-ALDV, MSN 81/22, year of manufacture 1950.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 51.9727°, 0.0791°.