On 14th October 1942 the 613 Squadron pilot of Mustang AG509 (pictured above) was tasked with undertaking a navigational training flight to Douglas, Isle of Man. He took off from Ouston at 11.00hrs but did not obtain a detailed weather forecast for the route. He headed towards the Isle of Man but encountered bad weather over the Pennines. He became lost in low cloud and flew off the intended route and over hills. Thirty five minutes into the flight the aircraft flew into high ground near Langcliffe Scar, to the east of Settle at 11.35hrs. There was rain and low cloud present over the crash area at the time of the accident. Sadly the pilot lost his life and the aircraft was destroyed.
Mustang AG509 was built to Briitish Purchasing Corporation Contract A-250 by North American Aviation at Inglewood, Dallas and was shipped to the UK, arriving at Liverpool in February 1942. It was then transported by road to No. 1 A.A.U. at Speke for assembly and testing and then placed into MU storage until June 1942. In June 1942 it was taken on charge by 613 Squadron at Twinwood Farm who later moved to Ouston on 28th August 1942. As a result of the crash near Settle on 14th October 1942 Cat.E2/FA Burnt was recorded and the aircraft was written off.
Pilot - "F/O Herbert William Patrick Hainey RAFVR (119025)", aged 23, of Portland, Oregon, USA. Now buried Portland, Oregon, USA.
Herb Hainey in his RAF uniform in England.
Herb Hainey in a USAAF uniform and almost certainly training in Canada or in the USA. He is shown back row, far right. The names of the others are not known.
After locating the crash site in August 2012 I made contact with the pilot's family and Mr Roland Hainey kindly supplied extra details about Herb's family life. Herbert was born on 22nd April 1919 in Waleville, Washington State, USA. His father Charles Hainey was born in 1890 in Rosendale, Andrew County, Missouri while his mother Marie was born in Saint Wendel, Stearns County, Minnesota in 1893. While serving in the War he compiled a diary, on 12th October 1942 the entry stated that he was suffering symptoms of having flu, that he spent much of the day in bed and that he was aching all over. The entry for 13th October 1942 stated that he was feeling better but that he was still weak. There is no reference to any illness to the pilot in the basic accident record card but the internet yields a number of articles on the effects of flying with blocked sinuses and other flu-symptoms. The pressure to the head while flying differs to that while being on the ground and the sinuses are effected but flying. If indeed he was suffering from flu then I speculate his illness may have been one of the factors as to why he lost control, modern pilots ground themselves if they get colds and perhaps this was not the case during the War.
Herbert was initially buried in Stamfordham Churchyard, Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 19th October 1942 but a great number of US casualties were later re-interred in their native country and he was one such casualty. He is now buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon a long way from where he is still remembered on the town war memorial in Settle, North Yorkshire. He is also commemorated on the Maidenhead Register.
The name of this pilot and that of another pilot, also an American national killed in the Settle area, are recorded on the main Settle War Memorial and on a second memorial inside Settle Church.
I searched for this crash site on August Bank Holiday Monday 2012 in appalling weather and held out little hope in finding anything in long grass, however
I located two pieces of wreckage to confirm the rough crash location. One item I found was one of the aircraft's camshaft from the top of the Allison engine
and another smaller item which I was lucky enough to find an "NAA" inspection stamp.
A small fragment of the aircraft located at the crash site in August 2012, the alluminium part contains the inspection stamp shown below.
The "NAA" stamp refers to North American Aviation Inc. A good find; North American Aviation made the Mustang NA-73 / NA-51 on contract for the RAF.
In the footings of a dry stone wall near the find shown above I found a camshaft from the engine with fragments of the cast engine attached. The aircraft
must have gone into the ground at speed and total disintergrated and there must be a lot more fragments of the aircraft under the surface at the crash site.
I thank the pilot's son, Mr Roland Hainey, for kindly contacting me and supplying the photographs of his father shown here.