On this day in aviation history, a sad "first time this happened" entry was made in the aviation history books.
The weather was bad this day with poor visibility.
A de Havilland DH.18A (G-EAWO), en route on a mail flight from London Croydon Airport to Paris Le Bourget Aiport, and a Farman F.60 Goliath (F-GEAD), en route from Paris-Le Bourget to Croydon were both on their way to their respective destinations.
Navigation was difficult in the prevailing weather conditions, so both pilots decide to use the visible roads and rail track for navigation. Sadly they both used the same rail track and collided mid-air at an altitude of 150 meters over the town of Thieuloy Saint Antoine, north-western France.
It appears that the DH.18 hit the upper left wing of the Farman which detached. Both aircraft crashed in an open field (a piece of wing crashed on the roof of a house) and were destroyed. While the British pilot was seriously injured, all other six occupants were killed. The only survivor died from his injuries a few hours later
What was the "first time this happens" then in this crash? It was the first mid-air collision of two commercially operated aircraft.
Model of a de Havilland DH18A G-EAWO
Farman F.60 Goliath
Source:: www.baaa-acro.com
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