1949 Manchester BEA Douglas DC-3 accident
The British European Airways Douglas Dakota involved in the crash, at Manchester Airport in August 1949.
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 19 August 1949 |
| Summary | Pilot error |
| Site | Saddleworth Moor, Yorkshire, England |
| Passengers | 29 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 24 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 8 |
| Survivors | 8 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-3 |
| Operator | British European Airways |
| Registration | G-AHCY |
| Flight origin | Nutts Corner Airport, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Destination | Manchester Airport, England |
The 1949 Manchester BEA Douglas DC-3 accident occurred when a twin-engined British European Airways Douglas DC-3 (registration: G-AHCY) crashed on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines near Oldham, Lancashire, after a flight from Belfast. The accident killed 24 of the passengers and crew on board. The aircraft had first flown in 1944, and was captained by F. W. Pinkerton, a former RAF serviceman who, as a sergeant, had been posted missing during World War II. The airline was government-owned.
The aircraft took off from Belfast Nutts Corner Airport at 10:58 on 19 August 1949 on a short-haul flight to Manchester Airport, with twenty-nine passengers and either three or four crew members on board. US newspaper reports, using agency reports filed soon after the incident, favour the former number of crew;Flight Magazine, reporting a little time later, favoured the latter.
An hour after take-off, at 11:59, the last radio contact with the crew occurred and about one minute later the aircraft crashed. It was flying at approximately 1,350 feet (410 m) when it hit a mist-covered hill (53°31.240′N 1°58.733′W / 53.520667°N 1.978883°W) at Wimberry Stones, near to the Chew Valley on Saddleworth Moor near Oldham, 15 miles (24 km) from Manchester Airport. Contact was made approximately 20 feet (6 m) from the summit. The aircraft broke up and caught fire. Twenty-one passengers and all the crew members died, leaving eight survivors.
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