Croydon – Paris – Cannes

On May 13, 1948 at 05:30 PM, Croydon – Paris – Cannes experienced a crash involving De Havilland DH.104 Dove, operated by Skyways of London, with the event recorded near Saint-Bauzile Ardèche.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

4 people were known to be on board, 4 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: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. The twin engine aircraft left Croydon in the early afternoon for Paris with eight passengers and a crew of two. Six passengers disembarked in Paris and the aircraft took off around 1530LT bound for Cannes. About two hours into the flight, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain, turbulence and strong winds. The aircraft went out of control and crashed in a wooded area located on Mt Le Coran, near Saint-Bauzile, about 9 km southeast of Privas. A local farmer was quickly on the scene but all four occupants were killed. Rescue teams arrived the next morning. Crew: Peter Townsend, pilot, Arthur Frederick Freeman, radio operator. Passengers: Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, Kathleen Kennedy-Cavendish, young sister of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-AJOU, MSN 4058, year of manufacture 1947.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 44.6762°, 4.6739°.