Avro 504 E4152 (possibly) at Copmanthorpe aerodrome.
During the morning of 22nd December 1918 this No.76 Squadron aeroplane was to have been flown on a gunnery training flight but at 10.30hrs on take off the engine cut out just after it had left the ground. The pilot lost control and it dived into the ground resulting in him being injured. The incident may have occurred at Ripon aerodrome, where 76 Squadron had their main flying site but they were also still using Copmanthorpe aerodrome which also had a gunnery attached to it though Ripon aerodrome may also have had similar. The pilot's service file states that he was admitted to Ripon Military Hospital on 29th December 1918, a week after the crash, possibly suggesting he was in hospital elsewhere nearer the site of the crash prior to being transferred there. Possibly also meaning it would be unlikely he was taken to another hospital at Ripon if the crash had occurred there.
Pilot - 2Lt Frederick Neil Sutherland RAF. Injured.
Frederick Sutherland was born on 4th March 1900 in Cambridge. He was a student when he enlisted for RNAS service and was granted a commission on 10th March 1918. The RNAS folded and became part of the newly created RAF on 1st April 1918. His service file then appears to show him posted to No.33 Squadron until 25th October 1918 when he was posted to No.76 Squadron. Between 15th November 1918 and 11th December 1918 he was at the North East Area Flying Instructor School at Redcar and returned to No.76 Squadron once qualified. He was slightly injured in the flying accident involving Avro 504 E4152 on 22nd December 1918 and returned to No.76 Squadron duty seven days later (a memorable Armistice Christmas for him in Ripon Hospital). He was the placed on the Unemployed List on 2nd May 1919. He later worked for and rose to General Manager and later Chairman of the Marconi Compnay Ltd, Chelmsford for which he was firstly awarded a CBE and then knighted in 1969. He married in Chelmsford in 1973 and died in 1986 in Ipswich.