Douglas DC-3 Dakota G-AHCY near Wimberry Stones, Greenfield, Oldham.

Historian and mountain guide Alan Clark made a superb effort of recording this incident on his Peak District aeroplane accidents website and purely copying his research seems pointless. It crashed just inside the Yorkshire boundary so I have to include it on my website but there is no intent to "tread on toes". I have kept my account brief which does not really do the human cost justice to the story but would direct anyone with an interest to Alan's website.

Dakota G-AHCY was owned by British European Airways. On 19th August 1949 this aircraft was being flown on a scheduled passenger flight from Nutts Corner, Belfast, to Ringway, Manchester and it took off from Nutts Corner just before midday. Owing to cloud cover most of the flight would have been flown with the crew using their instruments. At 12.49hrs the pilot contacted Ringway to state they were approaching the airfield from the northwest and were descending to 1500 feet. By this date airfields had beams that assisted crews in landing. The procedure then was to fly down the beam and away from the airfield, then to turn 180 degrees and follow the beam in to Ringway and land. Unfortunately by the time the pilots began the turn the aircraft was too far out from Ringway so, at 13.02hrs, when the turn was made, the aircraft was too low in proximity of high ground and crashed into the western edge of the Pennines. The aircraft crashed into moorland in an area known as Wimberry Stones, around a mile south of the village of Greenfield and a few miles east of Oldham. This is just inside what was then the Yorkshire border back in 1949. Sadly the aircraft broke up and a high number of those on board were killed. Two died of their injuries but who this was is not clear. A large number of people climbed up to assist with the rescue attempt which was hampered by bad weather. Local and national newspapers covered most of the human stories of those involved in the days that followed. Of those that are the most touching is a toddler who survived but who lost both his parents and two sisters in the crash, and a family from Lincoln who lost their one year old son but survived themselves.

Pilot - Captain Frank Wortley Pinkerton, aged 36. Buried St Peter's Churchyard, Bishopsworth, Bristol.

Co-Pilot - First Officer Gordon Holt, aged 26. Buried St Mary's Cemetery, Taunton, Somerset.

Radio Operator - Radio Officer Richard Willis Haigh, aged 46. Buried West Derby Cemetery, Liverpool.

Passenger - Mr Robert F. Ashton, aged 35, of Knutsford, Cheshire. Injured.

Passenger - Mr Willie Ashton, aged 50. Whitfield, Manchester. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mrs Sarah Marguerite Baird, aged 36, of Nottingham. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mrs Elsie Holt Barclay, aged 47, of Rawtenstall, Lancashire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Miss Jean Minnie Barclay, aged 13, of Rawtenstall, Lancashire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Cyril Beenstock, aged 22. Buried Rainsough Jewish Cemetery, Prestwich, Manchester.

Passenger - Miss Dorothy May Brimelow, aged 19, of Bolton. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Derek Harry Clark, aged 25, of Leicester. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mrs Margery Davis, aged 49, Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Horace Evans, of Lincoln. Injured.

Passenger - Mrs Ruth Evans, of Lincoln. Injured.

Passenger - Master Stephen Evans, of Lincoln. Injured.

Passenger - Master Roger Alan Evans, aged 1. Buried Redhill Cemetery, Arnold, Nottingham.

Passenger - Miss Bridget Anne Farrell, aged 19, of Bolton. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr George Stephen Gisby, aged 56, of Chapel en le Frith. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Miss Ivy Gwendolen Jones, aged 48, of Cheltenham. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Hubert Stanley Lea, aged 42, of Cardiff. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Miss Kathleen McMahon, aged 31, of Crockaclavin, Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone. Injured.

Passenger - Mr Henry Bryce Prestwich, aged 38, of Swettenham Hall, Cheshire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mrs Joan Prestwich, aged 37, of Swettenham Hall, Cheshire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Miss Elizabeth Ann Prestwich, aged 10, of Swettenham Hall, Cheshire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Miss Jane Caroline Prestwich, aged 7, of Swettenham Hall, Cheshire. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Master Michael Prestwich, aged 2, of Swettenham Hall, Cheshire. Injured.

Passenger - Mrs Elizabeth Schofield, aged 59, of Blackpool. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mrs Beatrice Elizabeth Sydall, aged 49, of Whalley Bridge, Stockport. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Arthur Frank Vickery, aged 29, of Manchester. Injured.

Passenger - Mrs Edna Vickery, aged 23, of Holcombe Brook, Bury. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Master David Vickery, aged 3, of Holcombe Brook, Bury. Killed. Burial location unknown.

Passenger - Mr Christopher Watt, aged 25, of Sheffield. Injured.