Crash and drowning at Dartford, 13 January 1913 - Vickers Nº 6 aeroplane

[John]

The New York Herald, June 14, 1913

TWO AVIATORS DROWN IN THAMES
Engine Explodes on Hitting Water

Mr. L. F. Macdonald and Mr. Harry England, aviators employed by Vickers, Limited, lost their lives in the River Thames, off Dartford, as the result of a remarkable accident yesterday evening. While passing over the river in a Vickers monoplane toward the Essex shore the machine made a dive from a height of 120 feet. According to Mr. H. G. Ticehurst, manager of the Thames Ammunition Works, who saw the tragedy through a telescope from the conning tower of the company at Erith, after the machine struck it exploded. He saw one of the aviators clamber out of the water and try to climb up the left wing of the monoplane, but his weight was too much, and it sank at once. Then the man swam away from the wreck and struck out for the shore, but, numbed by the icy cold water, he perished after swimming ten yards. The bodies have not yet been recovered.

[pomme homme]

I know that the report was produced by an American and that 1913 might not have been the warmest summer on record, but "icy cold water" in the Thames in mid June! I suspect that someone was over egging the pudding!

[John]

Cheltenham Chronicle - Saturday 18 January 1913

TRAGIC DEATH OF TWO AIRMEN, An airman and his mechanic, flying in a monoplane on Monday afternoon, fell into the Thames near Crayford, Kent, close to the Kent shore, and were drowned. A few minutes previously they had been heard singing. They were Mr. L. F. Macdonald, an engineer, and Harry England, mechanic, who left the flying ground of Messrs. Vickers at Joyce Green, near Dartford, for a short trial flight in a 70-h.p. Gnome-cngincd Vickers monoplane.

In the course of a few seconds they were seen flying over the Long Reach Tavern, and were, in fact, heard singing. After flying for a few minutes at a height of a few hundred feet, trouble with the engine causcd them to make a rapid descent while they were above the river. The monoplane fell gently and floated for about a minute. One man was seen climbing along a wing before the machine sank. He then swam a few yards and disappeared. He was presumably the mechanic, for Mr. Macdonald could not swim, and evidently went down with the machine.

The accident was seen through a telescope three-quarters of a mile away by Mr. H. G. Ticehurst, manager of the Thames Ammunition Works, on the Essex shore. "They were flying at a height of about a hundred feet and making for the Essex shore when I first saw them," he said. "I could distinctly hear the engine, and it seemed to be running steadily. They seemed unable to keep the head properly elevated, and gradually it dropped and the machine descended into the river. Just before it touched the water I heard a loud explosion. I saw the man on the wing let go and swim for about ten yards before he sank. His companion I did not see. Two boats started from the Essex shore, but could not get to the spot in time to give assistance."

Mr. Macdonald was a young airman of experience, in the employment of Messrs. Vickers as an engineer. Two years ago, shortly after getting his certificate, he went to Australia for the Bristol Aeroplane Company and gave exhibition flights there. Last summer, with a Vickers monoplane, he flew in the military trials at Salisbury Plain. England was also employed by Messrs. Vickers.

[alkhamhills]

Leslie Falconay Macdonald
Born 1890 Bristol Parents James & Olive. 4 siblings

1901 Census. With parents and 3 siblings. At  52 Checkifield Rd, Bristol. Father was a manager of Rail Wagon Works

[pomme homme]

This crash occurred on 13 January 1913 (not in June, as intimated by the New York Herald - although this will have been evident from the Cheltenham Chronicle report). The aeroplane being flown at the time was Vickers Nº 6 biplane. Of the incident C.A.Andrews ('Vickers Aircraft since 1908' (Putnams)) said:

'No. 6 was powered by a 70 hp Viale seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, but this proved too unreliable to give the aeroplane a reasonable chance in the [Military Aeroplane Trials] Competition, in which it was flown by L. F. Macdonald, Vickers' pilot. From this type a two-seat biplane was developed and test flown from Joyce Green in December 1912. It was in this aircraft that Macdonald, with his mechanic H. England, crashed in the Thames on 13 January, 1913, both occupants being drowned. The accident was attributed to failure of the 70 hp Gnome rotary engine, which type of engine had previously replaced the Viale in No. 6. No photographs or drawings have survived of this biplane conversion.'

[Craggs]

Western Daily Press - Thursday 06 February 1913

SEQUEL TO AEROPLANE TRAGEDY

The Vickers biplane, which sank in the Thames, at Long Reach, more than three weeks ago, carrying with it the Bristol pilot Macdonald and his mechanic England, was found at 12.30 yesterday afternoon, not far from where she sank by two Gravesend fishermen. She is now beached at Crayford Ness. The body of neither of the ill-fated airmen has been recovered.

[pomme homme]

'History of British Aviation 1908 - 1914' (R. Dallas Brett):

On the 13th of that month [January 1913] he [Mr L.F.Macdonald] took off with Mr H.England, one of the firm's [Vickers] mechanics, in the passenger seat, with the intention of making some tests.

The engine, a 70 h.p. Gnôme, was running badly on the ground but Macdonald, following Lieut. Parke's bad example, ignored this and took off across the river [Thames, at Erith]. After staggering out of the aerodrome and over the river bank, the machine began to lose height, so the pilot made a feeble attempt to turn back, and flew about 100 yards upstream until the wheels dipped into the water and dragged the machine after them.

The aircraft, which hit the water with the engine still on, sank in two minutes. Macdonald was evidently trapped in his seat and drowned, but the mechanic struggled clear and swam a few yards before he too disappeared.

This accident should never have occurred, any more should that in which Lieut. Wilfred Parke, R.N., lost his life. It provided one more instance of a pilot taking an entirely unjustified risk by leaving the ground with a faulty engine.