On 24th March 1973 the four men flying in this aircraft had been part of a party of twenty members of a Blackpool flying club who had flown in a total of six aircraft from Blackpool to Kirkbride to attend a social function at a hotel in the area. They remained at the hotel overnight and set out during the morning of 25th March 1973 with the other aircraft in the group to make the return flight to Blackpool. Before taking off the weather forecast was checked and after learning that the high ground of the Lake District was effected by low cloud. All pilots agreed that the route they would fly would be down the coastline of (what is now) West Cumbria south towards Blackpool. G-AZYP took off from Kirkbride at around 10.00hrs. During the flight south G-AZYP was seen by those on one of the other aircraft to deviate off the coastal route and fly inland possibly after those on G-AZYP had seen a gap in the cloud and gone to undertake some sightseeing. As the aircraft approached Wast Water it entered cloud, it was thought that the pilot realised that the aircraft was too low while flying in the area of high ground and had attempted to climb the aircraft. The aircraft was heard to fly over Wast Water but then crash at 10.25hrs. The aircraft was later found to have crashed in the region of Illgill Head, and that the wreckage had then fallen from the point of impact down onto Wasdale Screes. All board were sadly killed in the crash. This aircraft crashed a few hundred metres from where Avenger JZ390 crashed in 1945 and appears confused on various fellwalking forums on the internet.

Pilot - Mr Graham George Austin, aged 29, of Warrington. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Stephen Roy Rogerson, aged 17, of Blackpool. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Anthony Roger Williams, aged 30, of Warrington. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Mervyn Douglas Chappell, aged 18, of Blackpool. Burial location unknown.

I visited the lower wreckage at the crash site in June 2015 as part of a longer walk in the Wasdale area in very hot weather. I located the port wing and tail sections and some smaller sections of the aircraft skinning on Wastwater Screes. The photograph shown above shows the general area of where the aircraft crashed. I did not go higher because of the heat and running low on drink. Climbing the screes is not something that is recommended and this area is listed as an accident blackspot recorded on the Wasdale MRT website.

The remains of the port wing with the wheel and tyre still present.

The tail section of the aircraft partly covered by rocks. The colour scheme of G-AZYP appears very similiar to that of G-ASEK that crashed at Esk Hause in 1966.

One of the smaller fragments of the aircraft's skinning near the shore of the lake.