DH.84 Dragon G-ACHX at Armthorpe.
On 15th September 1933 this aircraft was being used to fly a number of racehorse owners and jockeys from Armthorpe, following a race meeting at Doncaster, to Beckhampton where most of the passengers appear to have had stables or worked. The aircraft was flown without passengers to Armthorpe earlier in the day by a different pilot who reported no issues with the aircraft. The pilot of the DH.84 had flown himself to Armthorpe in a Moth and had attended the race meeting. It was stated in the AIB report that he had enjoyed alcoholic drinks while at the race meeting. With the racing at an end the pilot and passengers boarded the aircraft and the pilot attempted to take off. The aircraft travelled the full distance of Armthorpe aerodrome with the tail of the aircraft occasionally rising and then dropping back to the ground but it did not become airborne until it reached a point around twenty yards from the boundary hedge. Having not gained enough height to clear the hedge and a tree within it, it struck the tree and overturned, crashing inverted in the field beyond. The pilot was thrown from the aircraft and died. His passengers all survived remarkably without serious injury. On board was the 1932 and 1933 flat race Champion Jockey and the racehorse trainer / stable owner who he rode for at that time. This accident was front page national news at the time. It did not report that the pilot was blamed for the crash, that he was under the influence of drink at the time of take off and had not realised that he had not applied full power to the engines (Source: AVIA5/15 in the UK National Archives).
Pilot - Captain George Arthur Pennington, aged 34, of Woodley, Reading, Berkshire. Killed. Buried Ashburnham Church, Sussex.
Passenger - Mr Frederick Darling. Injured. Race horse and stable owner. Gordon Richards was his jockey at that time.
Passenger - Mrs Norah Valerie Hartigan. Slightly injured. Wife of racehorse trainer.
Passenger - Mr Herbert Henry Gratwicke Blagrave. Uninjured. Racehorse trainer.
Passenger - Mr Archibald Burns. Uninjured. Jockey.
Passenger - Mr Gordon Richards. Uninjured. Stable jockey to Darling. Flat racing Champion Jockey at the time of this crash. Later Knighted.
Passenger - Mr Fred Lane. Uninjured. Jockey.
Passenger - Mr Peter Edward Gratwicke Blagrave. Uninjured. Brother of Herbert Blagrave.
DH.84 Dragon G-ACHX was built by De Havilland Ltd. at Stag Lane and was first registered on the civilian register on 7th July 1933 to Richard Verney Wrightson and Peter Gordon Masefield, at Heston. On 11th July 1933 this registration was altered to "Wrightson & Pearce Ltd." who were still based at Heston. As a result of the mishap at Doncaster on 15th September 1933 repairable damage resulted. Once repaired the Certificate of Airworthiness was renewed on 29th November 1933. On 17th December 1934 the registration was transferred to Wrightways Ltd. at Croydon. On 25th April 1935 it crashed at Purley, around a mile from Croydon when the starboard engine failed. Unfortunately one person was killed while another was injured. The damage saw the aeroplane written off.