Airacobra AH585 at Acaster Malbis airfield.
A photograph of the aircraft involved in this mishap, Airacobra AH585, is shown above (photograph found in Flight Magazine archives). The aircraft behind AH585 is AH602 which crashed into the River Ouse a few days later. On 7th February 1942 AH585 swung on take off from Acaster Malbis airfield, ran off the runway and struck a snow drift. One of the undercarriage legs collapsed.
Pilot - Sgt Ernest George Shea RCAF (R/79550), of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Ernest Shea was born in October 1918 and enlisted for RCAF service in Regina in November 1940. He appears to have been posted in to 601 Squadron around the start of December 1941 and flew AH585 later the same month. He then went to Malta with 601 Squadron on board USS Wasp in April 1942 and then on to North Africe. He was credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft and one further damaged one before Summer 1943. He was then posted back to the UK and then back to Canada in November 1944 leaving the RCAF in March 1945.
Airacobra AH585 was built by The Bell Aircraft Corporation at their Wheatfield Plant at Niagara Fall airport, New York and was purchased by the British Purchasing Commission without a contract. It arrived in the UK in July 1941 by sea and on 7th April 1941 was transported by road to No.4 Assembly Unit at Colerne where the aircraft was assembled and flight tested. Around the middle of August 1941 it was taken on charge by 601 Squadron at Duxford when conversion from Hurricane's to Airacobra's began and was definitely in use by them operationally in October 1941. It moved with the squadron to Acaster Malbis on 6th January 1942. As a result of the damage sustained on 7th February 1942 the damage was initially assessed and Cat.R.B/FA damage recorded but it was then re-assessment and deemed more seriously damaged and Re.Cat.E and struck off charge.