Halifax MZ648 near Askham Bryan.
The AM Form 1180 for this incident is very difficult to read. During the morning of 15th November 1944 this 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft was flown on a training flight that involved the trainee crew shutting down one engine and practicing flying and landing on three engines. At around 11.40hrs the crew made an approach to land at Rufforth but decided to fly an overshoot and fly another circuit of the airfield to make a better approach to land possibly as the speed was too low. The pilot applied power to the three running engines and then began to loose control as the flaps were fully extended and there was much more power being applied to one side of the aircraft than the other. The AM Form 1180 appears to suggest that the instructor attempted to un-feather and restart the shut down engine but forgot to make sure that the fuel supply was turned on, also that the propeller was left in full fine pitch. The aircraft made a turn to starboard at low height, failed to maintain height and crashed at 11.44hrs in a field near Askham Bryan. The aircraft was seen by people on the ground at Rufforth airfield to dive behind trees just prior to the crash which was rough a mile and a half from the airfield. The crew were relatively lucky, three of the eight sustained injuries that resulted in being taken to hospital.
Pilot (pupil) - P/O John Wood Furniss RNZAF (NZ.427541). Injured.
Pilot (instructor) - F/Lt Richard Arthur Vaughan Hazelhurst DFC RAFVR (127247). Seriously injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Norman Lewis RAAF (424193). Slightly injured.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt G M Hirst RAFVR (1547038). Slightly injured
? - Sgt J W Stewart RAFVR (1837029). Seriously injured.
Air Gunner - Sgt Walter Melton RAFVR (1303086). Uninjured.
? - Sgt C Oliver RAFVR (2222181). Seriously injurd.