On an unknown date in mid-1918 the engine of this aircraft failed soon after take off, the aircraft crashed into a house at Marske in the edge of the aerodrome and possibly into the house lived in by one of his fellow officers. This was the pilot's third mishap in as many days, his first incident occured when he was forced to ditch off Marske, the second was when his aircraft suffered engine failure while off the coast at Marske, he attempted to glide back to the aerodrome at Marske but overturned on hitting sanddunes near the airstrip.

Pilot - 2nd Lt William Earl Johns.

William Earl Johns was born on 5th February 1893 in Bengeo, Hertfordshire. While working in Swaffham, Norfolk he enlisted into the King's Own Royal Regiment (Norfolk Yeomanry) in 1913 and later fought in Gallipoli in 1915, he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in 1916 and served in Greece but contracted malaria. After recovering he received his commission and joined the RFC in September 1917 and was posted back to England for pilot training. He was later posted to Redcar as a flying instructor on 1st April 1918 until 20th July 1918. In August 1918 he was posted to France but was shot down after only six weeks of operational flying on 16th September 1918; he was taken PoW while his observer was killed. Post-War he remained in the RAF until 1927. He is most famous for being the authur of the "Biggles" series of adventure books about a pilot's adventures. He died on 21st June 1968.