Date:	Saturday 20 June 1953
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Percival Proctor Mk III
Owner/operator:	John Philip Crowther (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-AKWV
MSN:	HM350
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Southend-on-Sea, Essex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Demo/Airshow/Display
Departure airport:	Southend Airport, Southend, Essex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Percival Proctor Mk.III: Built by F. Hills & Sons, Manchester as RAF Proctor HM350 (aircraft's record card uses its former RAF serial in lieu of the official c/no.H260). First civil registered (C of R 12281/1;C of A 10145) on 9/4/48 as G-AKWV to Surrey Financial Trust Ltd., Old Coulsdon, Surrey. Registration cancelled 7/7/48 upon sale

Re-registered (C of R 12281/2) on 20/7/48 to Cinque Ports Flying Club Ltd., Lympne, Kent. Registration cancelled/lapsed upon sale 29/7/48. Sold on and re-registered (C of R 12281/3) on 7/8/48 to John Philip Crowther, Herne Bay, Kent

Written off (destroyed) 20/06/53 in a mid air collision with another Proctor, G-AIKJ. According to a published source (see link #14):

"The 21st edition of the King's Cup Air Race was overshadowed by the death of one of the competitors, Britain's John Crowther, 47-year-old hotelier from the Marine Hotel, Tankerton, Kent.

The meeting was held at the Southend-on-Sea Municipal Airport, also known as London Southend, located in the district of Rochford within Essex, England, approximately 42 miles (68 kilometers) from the centre of London. The flying programme of the British National Air Races, which included 15 events, began at 14:30 on Saturday, 20 June 1953. Three qualifying races, each for three laps around the 10-mile air course - the Grosvenor Challenge Cup, the Norton-Griffiths Challenge Trophy and the Kemsley Challenge Trophy - led to the King’s Cup Race. The 12 finalists flew six laps, with Pat Fillingham, 39-years-old De Havilland chief production test pilot, who was the winner, averaging 142 mph (228.4 km/h) in his De Havilland Chipmunk. W. P. Bowles was second in a Miles Messenger, and D. R. Robertson was third in a De Havilland Moth Minor.

In front of a crowd of 10,000 watching the races, John Crowther was killed following a mid-air crash between two Percival Proctor aircrafts during the Kemsley Challenge Trophy, third preliminary qualifying heat for the 1953 King's Cup Air Race.

Percival Proctor G-AKWV was attempting to overtake the other aircraft when they collided over the open land to the southeastern area of the airport, shortly after passing over Warner's Bridge and over the crowd. The G-AKWV plane, fell to earth and burned, killing the pilot John Crowther. Rescue helicopters flew immediately to the crash scene where John Crowther was pronounced dead.

The other plane, Percival Proctor G-AIKJ piloted by Jo Turner, aged 44, landed safely, with a damaged leading-edge. Then it went on in the race, eventually finishing in last position.

The aircraft which John Crowther was piloting, was a single-engine, low-wing monoplane Percival Proctor, built by Percival Aircraft in the 1940s".

Registration G-AKWV belatedly cancelled by the Secretary of State, Air Ministry on 03/03/59 as "destroyed". It seems that the demise of Proctor G-AKWV only officially came to light when Proctor G-AIKJ (the other aircraft involved) was written off in a crash in 1958. (Proctor G-AIKJ had its registration cancelled as "P/W/F/U destroyed" on 08/06/59 after a crash at Tonbridge, Kent on 16/11/58; it had been sold on and re-registered to new owners on 23/11/53 and again on 26/11/58. So, obviously, it had survived the above crash, been repaired and continued to fly for a further six years)

1. Portsmouth Evening News (Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK), issue of Monday, 23 June 1953, page 4
2. The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia), issue of Monday, 22 June 1953, article "Fatal Crash in Air Race", page 16, retrieved by website http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home [incorrect surname: Crowhern].
3. The Aviation Forum, Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums > Historic Aviation, thread "King's Cup Air Race", page http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=36982&page=2 .
4. Southend Time Line - 1953, page http://www.southendtimeline.com/1953.htm .
5. The Skytamer Archive, page http://www.skytamer.com/Percival_Proctor_III.html .
6. Shuttleworth Race Day, page http://www.sbap.be/events/2016/033raceday2016/033raceday2016.htm .
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT 219/56: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C414828
8. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AKWV.pdf
9. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1598913
10. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15767.0
11. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwhitworth/5525466451
12. https://www.sarfend.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1148642301
13. http://mainescenery.proboards.com/thread/9682/out-interest
14. http://motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=a&n=9844

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Dec-2019 22:06	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Dec-2019 22:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]