HP Hermes air test after engine change

[staircase]

Status:



Date:

Tuesday 1 April 1958

Type:

Handley Page HP.81 Hermes IVA

Operator:

Skyways

Registration:

G-ALDV

C/n / msn:

HP.81/22

First flight:

1950

Crew:

Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3

Passengers:

Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0

Total:

Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3

Aircraft damage:

Damaged beyond repair

Location:

Phase:

Maneuvering (MNV)

Nature:

Test

Departure airport:

London-Stansted Airport (STN/EGSS), United Kingdom

Destination airport:

?

Narrative:
The Handley Page Hermes was on a test flight when the controls became jammed. Eyewitnesses saw the plane descending in a series of dives and climbed until it crashed and caught fire.


Probable Cause:


PROBABLE CAUSE: "The accident was caused by the elevator mechanism becoming jammed. This deprived the pilots of control of the aircraft. The jamming was due to the presence of a small extraneous object which entered the control mechanism."


Classification:

Elevator issue
Loss of control


They probably had no choice as to which direction to fly