MW116

On February 1, 1945 at 08:34 PM, MW116 experienced a crash involving Avro 685 York, operated by Royal Air Force - RAF, with the event recorded near Lampedusa Sicily.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

15 people were known to be on board, 15 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 11, passenger fatalities: 11, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The four engine aircraft was enroute from Great Britain to Malta. While approaching Lampedusa Island by night, the crew lost his orientation and circle for about an hour when the captain decided to ditch the aircraft that crashed into the sea and was destroyed in position 35 degrees 30 North / 12 degrees 35 East (off Lampedusa Island) at 1934 hours GMT. It appears all 15 occupants were killed. Some of them were members of the staff that was involved in the Yalta Conference. Crew (511th Squadron): F/Sgt Alfred Claude Jack Walker, flight engineer, F/O Arthur Appleby, air gunner, W/O William Wright, LAC John Chicken, wireless operator. Passengers: Lt Col Ivor Stuart Huntly Hooper, Lt Col Wilfred George Newey, Cpt Albany Kennett Charlesworth, Cpt William Henry Finch, Cpt Philip Stuart Jackson, Mr Armine Roderick Dew from Foreign Office, Mr Peter Noel Loxley from Foreign Office, Mr John Chaplin from Foreign Office, Cpt Robert MacDonald Guthrie, Mr Harry Joseph Battley, Mrs Patricia Maxwell Sullivan from foreign Office. Source: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/36813-remembering-today-1-february-1945-avro-york-mw116/

Aircraft reference details include registration MW116, MSN MW116, year of manufacture 1944.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 35.5111°, 12.5963°.