Whitley K9042 at Dishforth airfield.
On 9th December 1939 51 Squadron Whitley K8980 was being taxied off the airfield at Dishforth towards a hanger in blackout conditions. The pilot of Whitley K9042 (that was stationary) was walking around his aircraft and inspecting it by torchlight at the time. Unfortunately the pilot of K8980 mistook the torch light to be that of a member of ground crew signalling to him so turned into K9042. The pilot of K8980 was unfamiliar with Dishforth airfield; the unit only having transferred there that day. Both aircraft suffered minor damage and were later repaired.
Crew - None?
Whitley K9042 was built to contract 522438/36 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was delivered to 6 MU at Brize Norton (ASU) on 3rd July 1939. It was issued to 51 Squadron
at Linton on Ouse on 24th November 1939 and moved with this unit to Dishforth on 9th December 1939. Following the incident detailed above Cat.M/FA damage was recorded and it was
repaired on site and returned to the unit. It was then transferred to 10 OTU at Abingdon on 21st May 1940 and sustained Cat.M(c)/FA damage on 6th June 1941 when the undercarriage
collapsed whilst taxiing at Kinloss. It was again repaired on site but on completion of repair on 25th August 1941 it transferred to 19 OTU at Kinloss. It then sustained unspecified damage
on 4th October 1941 and repaired on site. It was returned to the unit on 11th October 1941 only to again sustain unspecified damage on 22nd November 1941. Again it was repaired on site
and returned to unit on 29th November 1941. It then sustained damage, recorded as Cat.A(c)/FA on 29th March 1942 when the undercarriage jammed in the retracted position and the pilot
made a belly landing at Kinloss. It was again repaired on site by an outside repair unit and returned to the unit on 9th May 1942. Again it sustained unspecified damage on 10th July 1942
and again repaired on site, returned to unit on 11th July 1942. It then sustained unspecified damage on 29th July 1942, repaired on site, returned to unit on 19th September 1942,
sustained unspecified damage on 15th October 1942, repaired on site, and then returned to unit on 7th November 1942 (this must have kept one repair team fully occupied at Kinloss
for the summer and autumn months!). It then transferred to 44 MU at Edzell on 3rd February 1943 for long term storage. It was struck off charge and returned to produce (broken up)
on 26th July 1943 with 774 total hours flying time.