Canberra WD991 Article

CANBERRA WD991 - Cottam, Preston - 25th March 1952

Type	Unit	Base	Duty	Crew	Passengers
Canberra Mk.2	English Electric Co. Ltd	Samlesbury	Test flight	1	-

This was the fifth Canberra to be destroyed, in an accident, in less than 12 months and although no common cause could be found, the circumstances surrounding the loss of this aircraft was subject to the most thorough scrutiny by the Accidents Investigation Branch.


Crash site of WD991 on open farmland North of Preston	"Tommy" Evans' funeral at St. Thomas' Church, St. Annes

At 11.45am on Tuesday 25th March 1952, Canberra Mk.2 WD991 became airborne for the first time, as it took off from English Electric's Samlesbury airfield for the short first test flight to the company's nearby Warton airfield. The pilot for this trip was 29 year old Thomas Benjamin Oswyn Evans, who had first qualified as a pilot with the RAF in 1942 and had joined English Electric as a test pilot in November 1950. Though was still attached to 42 Reserve Centre, RAF Fazakerly, Liverpool and held the rank of Flight Lieutenant. He was to have been joined on this flight by another English Electric Employee, Mr Thomas Burnell to act as Flight Test Observer, but apparently a mix up over the issue of parachutes from the stores led to Evans taking off alone.

Name	Position	Status
F/L Thomas Benjamin Oswyn Evans	Pilot	K.

WD991 had been inspected and certified fit for flight that morning and with fine weather conditions, the flight appeared routine, with all pre-take off procedures being carried out normally. Tommy Evans made no radio contact after take off, though this was normal procedure, and only four to five minutes later witnesses observed the aircraft flying level at approx. 1000 feet over the North of Preston. The aircraft was described as flying "low and fast" when suddenly it entered a steep dive, with no apparent attempt to pull out, striking the ground at an angle of approx. 80 degrees at an estimated speed of 400-450kts. WD991 instantly completely disintegrated, scattering wreckage for some 600 yards beyond the main impact crater and sending a column of black smoke into the sky. Fortunately the impact was in open farmland and the only nearby building - a bungalow on Valentine Lane - was peppered with debris, shattering all the windows facing the impact and tearing several holes in the roof. Fortunately no one was at home at the time.


Graphic evidence of the force of impact -the fragmentary remains of WD991	The cause of the crash? - The crushed 2BA box spanner found amongst the debris

Such was the complete destruction of the aircraft that it made the job of the Accidents investigation Branch a difficult one and all the wreckage recovered was taken back to Samlesbury and laid out in a Hanger for detailed inspection. From this it was ascertained that no failure of the flight controls had occurred and that the aircraft had been trimmed for level high-speed flight at about 450-500kts. Engine malfunction was also ruled out as unlikely with no evidence of any pre-crash fire and further theories citing anoxia or accidental inflation of the dinghy in the cockpit were also ruled out. However the possibility of an elevator being jammed down gained importance with the finding of a crushed 2BA box spanner amongst the debris. Examination of this tool showed that it had been trapped between three points causing bending and cracking of the spanner and although it could not be proved, it was felt that it was certainly possible that this small tool could have prevented movement of the control column and thus affected elevator adjustment.

WD991's crash site is now covered by a housing development and the cottage on Valentine Lane has been renovated, with a new roof and window frames - removing all traces of the drama which took place 50 years before.


Flt Lt T.B.O. "Tommy" Evans	His grave at Lytham St Annes Park Cemetery

Flt Lt T.B.O. "Tommy" Evans was certainly a very experienced pilot with 2479 hours flying experience, some 57 of which were on the Canberra, which he first flew in February 1951. He had been selected as one of the company's display pilots and at Farnborough in 1951, "Flight" magazine noted how expertly he coped with a burst tyre on landing, due to brake seizure on the Canberra B.5 at the show. He is buried at Lytham St Annes Park Cemetery.

Acknowledgements:

AIB Report (PRO Refs Avia 5/32, BT233/81), MOD AHB, Mark Gaskell, Flight magazine (21.10.1951), Lancashire Evening Post (various articles), Mr Thomas Burnell (Deceased), Russell Brown.