Date:	Wednesday 25 February 1959
Time:	18:00 LOC
Type:	De Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth
Owner/operator:	Aero Club de Suisse, Sektion Bemer-Oberland, Thun
Registration:	HB-UAB
MSN:	7075
Year of manufacture:	1938
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lac Noir (Schwarzsee) Canton of Fribourg -   Switzerland
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Schwarzsee winter airfield (LSYS)
Destination airport:	Thun (LSZW)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
c/no. 7075: Registered as G-ACTJ [C of R 5089] 20.8.34 to John A A Henderson, Brooklands. C of A 4468 issued 23.8.34. Badly damaged on landing at Shoreham, Sussex 2.9.34. Re-registered [C of R 5527] 7.1.35 to Brooklands Aviation Ltd, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey. Registered [C of R 6621] 9.1.36 to Thomson & Taylor [Brooklands] Ltd, Woodley, Reading, Berkshire.

Re-registered [C of R 6875] 1.4.36 to Silentbloc Ltd, Croydon, Surrey. Damaged when hit hedge on take-off after forced landing Castle Hill, Ipswich, Suffolk 13.5.37. Re-registered [C of R 8340] 7.2.38 to Thomas W Shipside, Tollerton, Nottinghamshire. Registration cancelled 26.7.40 as sold.

Impressed into military service as BD146 on 28.7.40. To 6 AACU, RAF Ringway, Cheshire 28.7.40. To 26 Squadron 11.5.41. To Gatwick for overhaul 14.3.43; to Hawker Aircraft Ltd and operated by Group Captain R. H. Homiman, Mininstry of Aircraft Production overseer for Hawker Aircraft Ltd later in 1943.

DH Witney to Langley by air 9.9.44 (Horniman transferred to Hawker Group company Graviner 5.45 and retained aircraft). Allotted to Graviner Ltd 2.5.45 for their use based with Hawkers at Langley, Slough, Berkshire.

Sold 24.3.46 to Graviner Ltd. Registration G-ACTJ restored 26.4.46 to Graviner Manufacturing Co Ltd, Langley,. slough, Berskhire. C of A renewed 25.6.46. Rebuilt at Langley in 1947 using major components from G-ACLZ, (c/n 7040), and officially became c/n 7040 in 1947. Re-registered 9.6.48 to Arthur R "Buster" Frogley, t/a Herts & Essex Aero Club, Broxbourne. Registration G-ACTJ cancelled 31.5.50 as sold to Switzerland.

Re-registered in Switzerland as HB-UAB 5.6.50 to Max Hertsch, Bem-Belp. Re-registered (in 1956) to Aero Club de Suisse, Sektion Bemer-Oberland, Thun.

Written off (destroyed) when crashed after take-off near Lac Noir (German: Schwarzsee) Canton of Fribourg, 25.2.59; pilot and 1 passenger killed, 1 passenger seriously injured (died later in hospital);

The pilot and his two passengers were apparently forced to pass an overnight at Schwarzsee (Lac-Noir) following engine troubles. At the end of the day, they decided to leave the area bound for Thun Aerodrome, about 26 km northeast from their position. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the airplane stalled and crashed in a near vertical position in a field located 500 meters northeast from the lake. A passenger was seriously injured while both other occupants were killed. Few hours later, the only survivor died from his injuries.

Registration HB-UAB cancelled 25.2.59 as "destroyed".

1. Tribune de Lausanne 57, 26.2.1959, p. 2
2. Nouvelle Revue de Lausanne 47, 26.2.1959, p. 5
3. Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne, 48, 27.2.1959, p 14
4. Tribune de Lausanne 58, 27.2.1959, p 3
5. Royal Air Force AIrcraft BA100-BZ999 (James J Halley, Air Brtiain)
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ACTJ.pdf
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh85-leopard-moth-schwarzsee-3-killed
8. http://www.chriggis-photo-site.com/hb-u/
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_2009.pdf
10. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p070.html
11. G-ACTJ at White Waltham 14.5.50: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitworth/5546263149
12. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A5.html
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzsee

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Sep-2015 15:43	sparrow9	Added
31-Oct-2017 23:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
10-Oct-2022 14:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
12-Oct-2022 16:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]