Heston – Newcastle

On June 20, 1939 at 12:00 AM, Heston – Newcastle experienced a crash involving De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide, operated by British American Air Services - BAAS, with the event recorded near Forest-in-Teesdale Durham.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was flight at a mountains 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: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While cruising in bad weather conditions, the crew did not realize he was flying too low. The twin engine aircraft hit the slope of Mt Dora's Seat located near Middleton, killing all three occupants. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor due to mist. Crew: Ferruccio S. Appi, pilot, James Elmslie, wireless operator. Passenger: John Lionel Crouch, famous British Jockey.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-AERE, MSN 6355, year of manufacture 1937.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 54.6639°, -2.2067°.