Looking for survivors of G-APPU Vickers, 1968, Southend

Oh my goodness, I really really hope he replies! It would mean a huge amount to my mother. If you read this Dave…. Pretty pretty please with cherries on top can you get back to me?

No word from your friend Dave yet. 🙁 Disappointing, though I can completely understand if he does not wish to talk about something so traumatic. Thank you for trying, much appreciated anyway.

Ha ha! I’m Australian, and we use lots of colloquialisms here! 🙂

This is nothing to do with the crash. But “Pretty pretty please with cherries on top” I loved. Thank you Ana.
Mike

Scroll down for 8 more photos…

http://www.baaa-acro.com/Photos%20d’accidents%201968.htm

And…Thank you so much for your help, cannot tell you what it means to us.

http://www.baaa-acro.com/Photos-64/G-APPU-2.jpg

Yes.. I’ve contacted Dave, and he’s confirmed he WAS on that flight, and that he escaped through that crack in the fuselage. I’ve posted a link to this thread on his FB page, so it’s over to him from here…

Oh my goodness, I really really hope he replies! It would mean a huge amount to my mother. If you read this Dave…. Pretty pretty please with cherries on top can you get back to me?

Scroll down for 8 more photos…

http://www.baaa-acro.com/Photos%20d’accidents%201968.htm

Any word from your friend regarding whether he was on the flight? I would love to hear from him.

http://www.baaa-acro.com/Photos-64/G-APPU-2.jpg

Yes.. I’ve contacted Dave, and he’s confirmed he WAS on that flight, and that he escaped through that crack in the fuselage. I’ve posted a link to this thread on his FB page, so it’s over to him from here…

I’m very sure a friend of mine, Dave Cousins, was on that flight too.. I’ll try and contact him

Any word from your friend regarding whether he was on the flight? I would love to hear from him.

Really? Wow, I would so appreciate it if you could. 🙂

I’m very sure a friend of mine, Dave Cousins, was on that flight too.. I’ll try and contact him

I was flying into Southend that night on an Air Ferry Viscount (G-AVHE)with a group of spotters. We had all been to the Hanover air show.
On descent we were told that an aircraft was blocking the runway at Southend and we would have to divert to Stansted.
It was an awful night with severe turbulence/lightning and torrential rain. We were bucketed about all over the place and many of the passengers were being very sick-we thumped down extremely hard at Stansted but were relieved to be down on terra firma. We then coached back to Southend and saw the other Viscount on the railway embankment. I believe it had aquaplaned on landing-which considering our own approach to Stansted-was not suprising-it was probably the roughest flight I ever experienced.

Wow, so interesting to talk to someone who was there! My mother said it was terrible weather, and the initial bump on landing was extremely hard. She assumes now that it was because the pilot realised he was going to run out of room and wanted to get the plane down quickly so he had more runway left on which to brake.

Brilliant…thanks! 🙂

Thanks Martin! 🙂 I have some photos and even the official aviation report (emailed to me a few days ago). Have been printing everything and giving it my mother. Much appreciated.

I was flying into Southend that night on an Air Ferry Viscount (G-AVHE)with a group of spotters. We had all been to the Hanover air show.
On descent we were told that an aircraft was blocking the runway at Southend and we would have to divert to Stansted.
It was an awful night with severe turbulence/lightning and torrential rain. We were bucketed about all over the place and many of the passengers were being very sick-we thumped down extremely hard at Stansted but were relieved to be down on terra firma. We then coached back to Southend and saw the other Viscount on the railway embankment. I believe it had aquaplaned on landing-which considering our own approach to Stansted-was not suprising-it was probably the roughest flight I ever experienced.

At that time I was one of the local aircraft spotters and remember seeing the crash site the following day. The Viscount ended up almost on top of the bank at the Rochford end of the runway. The crane was supporting the port wing to keep it clear of the railway line. Somebody had also been pretty quick with a pot of paint to try to obscure the Channel Airways titles.
For some reason Channel Airways kept the props and, after Channel Airways folded, a couple of them went to the Historic Aircraft Museum where they were on display up unitl the museum closed in the 80’s.
Looking at the pictures again it is a wonder that there were no fatalities and I assume that everyone made a full recovery.

http://www.vickersviscount.net/Index/VickersViscount364History.aspx

History of the plane.

Here’s another image of APPU https://www.flickr.com/photos/keith_burton/5465163885/in/photolist-9jWoPx-hTrVCR
and in colour http://aviation-safety.net/photos/accidents/750/19680504-1-C-d-3-750.jpg

Martin

I haven’t published it.

Exactly nothing has been published other than the Flickr photo album site being linked in. What’s the point of creating a web page and putting photos on the internet if you don’t want people to look at them? I would have thought the last forum member D1566 was doing you a favour by promoting your site?

I think by publishing it on here, you have infringed my copyright!

I haven’t published it.

Plenty of photos out there;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruleofthumbphotography/11083907813/

Ah yes, that’s the photo I took! I am Rule of Thumb Photography as well…

I think by publishing it on here, you have infringed my copyright!