TW902

On January 31, 1948 at 12:00 AM, TW902 experienced a crash involving Avro 683 Lancaster, operated by Royal Air Force - RAF, with the event recorded near Istres-Le Tubé Bouches-du-Rhône.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

16 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 9 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 43.8%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 12, passenger fatalities: 7, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. Shortly after takeoff from Istres-Le Tubé Airbase, the captain was forced to feather the propeller on engine number one because it was running roughly. He elected to return to Istres, initiated a turn and started an approach when he realized he was misaligned with the runway centerline. He increased power on the three remaining engines in an attempt to make a go around when the aircraft stalled and crashed on an abandoned hangar located short of the runway threshold. Four crew were injured, five others were unhurt and seven passengers were killed. Crew killed were (115th Squadron): S/L D. T. Moir, pilot, G. Atter, flight engineer, G. G. W. Carter, J. T. Walton, F/Lt P. Smith, F/Sgt S. A. Wallace, AC2 R. A. Knapp.

Aircraft reference details include registration TW902.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 43.5213°, 4.9335°.