Stockport Express

‘The crash need not have occurred at all’

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AN inquest would return accidental death verdicts for all 72 victims of the air crash. Later opening the enquiry into the tragedy, Attorney General Sir Elwyn Jones QC paid tribute to pilot Harry Marlow for his attempts to avert disaster, the emergency services and to the people of Stockport for racing to the scene to help.

The enquiry would reveal that the plane ran out of fuel because of a previously unrecognis­ed design flaw in the fuel system.

It hit the ground at 10.09am, breaking into three pieces, after skimming over the roofs of terrace houses.

Newspapers at the time said that ‘the final chapter in the tragic story of the Stockport air disaster closed with the publicatio­n of the findings of the court of enquiry’.

One report said: “The court members decided on what can only be described as an ‘open verdict’ for in such complicate­d circumstan­ces it is almost impossible to take a hard and fast line.

“What actually happened in the final minutes before the crash in Hope’s Carr no one will ever know but the theories put forward are both feasible and clear.

“For while the report points to engine fuel starvation as the cause of the crash, a number of possibilit­ies could have led to the lack of fuel in two engines.

“In the circumstan­ces, the enquiry is quite right to refuse to put it down to the old scapegoat ‘pilot error’ and at the same time to absolve the captain of the aircraft from blame.

“What is disturbing about the report is the fact that the fault in the fuel system of the Argonaut was known to three operators of this type of aircraft, but the knowledge was not passed on to air operators generally.

“This was a very grave oversight and one which in the event shows that the crash need not have occurred at all. This lack of informatio­n is a matter which should be put right immediatel­y and the recommenda­tions of the enquiry in the sphere should be followed to the letter.”

The pilot and crew were cleared of any blame for the crash.

The four month long enquiry found a fault in the fuel system to be a ‘major cause’ of the engine’s failure.

The report stated: “In October 1967, there were in service with the transport fleets of the world nearly 900 aircraft with fuel systems very similar to, if not identical with, the Argonaut.

“The worldwide importance of this investigat­ion is therefore obvious.”

The report added that the major cause of the crash was ‘loss of power in both engines on the starboard side, resulting in control problems which prevented the pilot from maintainin­g height on the available power, with one propeller wind milling’. The loss of power of the first engine was due to fuel starvation due to inadverten­t fuel transfer during flight. The loss of power of the second engine was due to either fuel starvation resulting from inadverten­t fuel transfer in flight or to misidentif­ication by the crew of which engine had failed, followed by failure to restore power in time. We can not decide between these possibilit­ies.”

It wasn’t until 30 years after the crash, following years of campaignin­g, that a memorial was finally erected in memory of those who lost their lives.

It was unveiled on Sunday, June 7, 1998, at a service conducted by the reverend Arthur Connop MBE, the then chaplain to the Stockport Division of Greater Manchester Police, who at the time of the tragedy was chaplain to the Stockport Borough Police, fire service, ambulance service and Stockport Infirmary.

 ??  ?? ●●Brothers Billy and Harold Wood, who survived the crash, say goodbye to Sister Susan Butcher as they leave Stockport Infirmary with their mum Gillian
●●Brothers Billy and Harold Wood, who survived the crash, say goodbye to Sister Susan Butcher as they leave Stockport Infirmary with their mum Gillian
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