Wellington R1454 at Finningley airfield.
On 11th June 1942 the pilot of this 25 O.T.U. aircraft was undertaking a local flying basic training flight and had taken off just after Wellington R1073 had
crashed near Lindholme. As this aircraft was approaching Finningley to land the aircraft's starboard wing dipped on the approach and before anything
could be done the aircraft struck the runway. It entered a swing and, out of control, it hit trees on the boundary of Finningley airfield and was destroyed
in a resulting fire. There was a possibility that the pilot of this aircraft was distracted by the burning Wellington R1073 which was on the ground and on fire nearby.
Pilot - Sgt H Hutchinson.
Wellington R1454 was built to contract 992424/39 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Hawarden and was awaiting collection in January 1941. It was received by 24 MU on 3rd February 1941 and after a period of MU storage it was taken on charge by 25 O.T.U. at Finningley on 28th April 1941. It was slightly damaged on 10th August 1941 to Cat.Ac/FA status, no details of the incident are known. It was repaired on site and was returned to 25 O.T.U. on 20th September 1941. As a result of the crash on 11th June 1942 Cat.E2/FA Burnt damage was recorded and the aircraft was struck off charge six days later.