The 1957 Aquila Airways Solent crash was a 15 November 1957 aircraft accident on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. With 45 lives lost, at the time it was the second worst crash within the United Kingdom.

Accident sequence

The aircraft, an Aquila Airways

Aquila Airways

Aquila Airways was a Southampton, Hampshire based British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, formed on 18 May 1948.-Early operations:...

 Short Solent 3

Short Solent

- External links :* * *...

 flying boat

Flying boat

A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...

 named the City of Sydney, registered G-AKNU, departed Southampton Water

Southampton Water

Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point. Along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and "the waterside", Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley...

 at 22:46 on a flight to Las Palmas and Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

 via Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

. At 22:54 the crew radioed to report that the number 4 propeller

Propeller (aircraft)

Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...

 had been feathered (No. 4 engine feathered. Coming back in a hurry. ). During an attempt to return, the Solent crashed into a disused chalk

Southern England Chalk Formation

The Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. The formation is perhaps best known for Salisbury Plain, the location of Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight and the twin ridgeways of the North Downs and South Downs....

 pit

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 adjacent to heavily forested downland

Downland

A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....

. The crash site is on a steep eastern slope of Shalcombe Down, above the small villages of Chessell

Chessell

Chessell is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight towards the west in an area known as the Back of the Wight on the B3401 road. Public transport was previously provided by Southern Vectis on route 11. It is also home to the Chessell Pottery Barns. which are a popular tourist attraction.-External links:*...

 and Shalcombe

Shalcombe

Shalcombe is a village on the Isle of Wight towards the west in an area known as West Wight . It is situated along the B3399 road and is about 4.5 miles away from Yarmouth, the village's closest town. Public transport is provided by Southern Vectis buses on route 7....

.

At the time of impact the plane was banked 45 degrees

Degree (angle)

A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...

 to the right, the same side of the aircraft that had lost all engine power according the accident report. Except for the tail, the aircraft was destroyed. Of the 50 passengers and eight crew on board, 45 were killed and 13 injured. Initially 43 perished, but two more later succumbed to their injuries.

Possible causes

A public inquiry

Public inquiry

A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...

 by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Air Accidents Investigation Branch

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigates air accidents in the United Kingdom. It is a branch of the Department for Transport and is based on the grounds of Farnborough Airport near Aldershot, Rushmoor, Hampshire.-History:...

 of the Ministry of Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

 concluded that the essential cause remains unknown.
The accident was caused by the stoppage of the No.3 engine while the No.4 engine was also stopped. What caused the initial failure of the No.4 engine is unknown. The cause of the subsequent number 3 engine stoppage was either an electrical failure in the fuel cutoff actuator circuit or the accidental operation of the cutoff switch.

Memorials

A 50th anniversary memorial service was held in the village of Brook, Isle of Wight

Brook, Isle of Wight

-Background:It is situated on the south west coast of the Island between Brighstone and Freshwater, and borders a section of rugged coastline , the Back of the Wight, facing into the English Channel and towards the famous Needles and west Wight cliffs....

 on 18 November 2007 to commemorate the lives lost. In October 2008 a permanent memorial was dedicated at Brook's St Mary's Church

St. Mary's Church, Brook

St. Mary's Church, Brook is a parish church in the Church of England located in Brook, Isle of Wight.-History:The church dates from 1864 by the architect Malling. It replaced a previous building which was destroyed in a fire...

, about 1 km (⅔ mi) due south of the crash site.

External links

• Photographs of the crash site taken in 1957, 1995 and 2005
• Newspaper clippings about the accident at PPRuNe
• "Service to mark 50 years since Isle of Wight Plane Crash" at Christian Today
  Christian Today
  Christian Today is a trans-denominational Christian newspaper, with offices in cities across the world, and International Headquarters in London, UK.The newspaper was established in 2000 to serve the Christian community from all denominations worldwide...
  
  – includes brief eyewitness account
• "An emotional return", (PDF) Frontline – The newspaper of Hampshire Constabulary, November 2006, p. 15.