ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220621
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| Date: | Thursday 21 December 1916 |
| Time: | 15:45 LT |
| Type: |  Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2d |
| Owner/operator: | 66 Sqn RFC |
| Registration: | 6735 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RFC Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire |
| RFC Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
21.12.16: Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2d No.6735, 66 Squadron, RFC Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. Written off (damaged beyond repair) when lost control at 60 feet and sideslipped, RFC Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. Pilot - 2nd Lt George Douglas Pechell (aged 25) - was killed
According to one published source (see link #8)
"The second fatal incident occurred on 21 December 1916 and involved 2nd Lieutenant George Douglas Pechell, (ex Indian Army Reserve of Officers), who had been training with No.66 Squadron since 9 November. The 25 year old pilot was killed during the afternoon while flying B.E.2d, 6735, which had been manufactured by the Vulcan Motor & Engineering Co. It appears that the aircraft went out of control at an altitude of 60 feet, side-slipped, and then crashed on Filton aerodrome.
2nd Lieutenant Pechell was the younger son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir A. Alexander Brooke-Pechell, 7th Baronet, of Larrau, Licq, Basses Pyrenees, France, and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. He had been gazetted to the Indian Army Reserve of Officers in November 1914, and in the following January was attached to the 108th Infantry Regiment, and later the R.F.C.
The inquest on his death was held on 22 December, at which Captain Gilbert Dobbyn, a doctor with the Royal Army Medical Corps, stated that he saw the deceased fall with his machine about five o'clock. Death was instantaneous.
Captain Cuthbert Ambrose Anthony Hiatt, (ex-2nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment), a Flight Commander with No.66 Squadron, said he saw the deceased in the air at 3.45 p.m. He was rising, when the machine turned to the right. The turn became steeper and steeper, and after one complete turn it fell through the roof of store building, from a height of about 100 feet. He attributed the accident to the machine getting out of control through lack of experience of the aviator, who was under instruction. Captain Hiatt said he examined the machine and found all the controls in working order.
Lieutenant Alfred Reginald Boeree (ex-4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment), another Flight Commander with No.66 Squadron, stated that he had flown the machine four times that afternoon previous to the deceased taking it up, and everything worked perfectly. 2nd Lieutenant Pechell had flown the same machine satisfactorily alone before. A verdict of ‘accidental death’ was returned and the deceased was subsequently buried in Bristol’s Canford Cemetery, Sec. F. Grave 28."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/358046/pechell,-george-douglas/
3. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/pechell-g.d.-george-douglas
4. Flight magazine (January 4 1917 page 14): https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1917/1917%20-%200014.html?search=George%20Douglas%20Pechell
5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59357992/george-douglas-pechell
6. http://www.stanwardine.com/cgi-bin/malvernww1.pl?id=320
7. https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/7688186
8. https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/2081730/south-gloucestershire-compendium-1914-1918-by-john-penny.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Jan-2019 18:44 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 07-Jan-2019 18:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 13-Jan-2019 13:19 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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