Percival G.6 G-AFVC near Brierley.
Mention of the incident was located in the No.13 Group record book that states on 5th October 1939 Woolsington reported that G-AFVC crashed at Barnsley en route to Newcastle, via Boroughbridge and Darlington. Church Fenton airfield reported very poor weather, with heavy rain on this date which may have had some baring on this incident occurring.
Modern accounts and a modern production list claims this aicraft crashed at Brierley Hill, Staffordshire on this date but I do not believe this to be a correct location. The village of Brierley, a few miles north east of Barnsley would be my claim on where this incident occurred and someone in the modern era has never heard of Brierley so picked Brierley Hill. Everyone else after this has copied the Staffordshire location without checking records.
Pilot - Name unknown.
This aircraft was built by Percival and was effectively a small airliner. It was given an initial certificate of airworthiness on 15th June 1938 and registered as F-AQOK to Baron Leon Sternberg de Armella, in France on 2nd July 1938. It later returned to England and was registered as G-AFVC on 30th June 1939 to Western Airways Ltd, Weston-super-Mare. After the incident on 5th October 1939 it was repaired and then impressed as AX860 on 10th May 1940. It briefly went to No.6 A.A.C.U. but in August 1940 it went to 37 MU at Burtonwood. In December 1940 it went to 781 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm and later went to 787 Squadron, FAA. After this nothing more is known.