Llandow air disaster

[tubby linton]

Today is the seventieth anniversary of the Llandow air disaster and I have a few questions.
I have been trying to find an accident report but without success. Would anybody know the weather conditions of the day of the crash and what navigational aids would the airfield been equipped with? Why did the aircraft not have used Rhoose ?
Eighty passengers in a Tudor also seems excessive.

[Warmtoast]

Have a look at Wiki Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandow_air_disaster

[DaveReidUK]

Eighty passengers in a Tudor also seems excessive.

The accident aircraft had been fitted with additional seats at the rear of the cabin to accommodate more passengers, with a resulting adverse effect on the CofG which was likely a factor contributing to the accident.

[Phileas Fogg]

The accident aircraft had been fitted with additional seats at the rear of the cabin to accommodate more passengers, with a resulting adverse effect on the CofG which was likely a factor contributing to the accident.

And what was a passenger doing in the toilet for landing?

[DaveReidUK]

And what was a passenger doing in the toilet for landing?

Whatever it was that he was doing, it resulted in him being one of the only three survivors of the accident.

[Phileas Fogg]

Today is the seventieth anniversary of the Llandow air disaster and I have a few questions.
I have been trying to find an accident report but without success. Would anybody know the weather conditions of the day of the crash and what navigational aids would the airfield been equipped with? Why did the aircraft not have used Rhoose ?
Eighty passengers in a Tudor also seems excessive.

Rhoose didn't open as a commercial airport until 1952, in 1950 it was just an abandoned and dilapidated ex wartime airfield

[pulse1]

As far as the weather was concerned, I can tell you that the weather in Bridgend was bright, sunny and pretty ordinary. I remember it as a 10 year old because I nearly got run down by an ambulance rushing to the accident. Of course I didn't know that until much later when I heard the news.

[tubby linton]

Thank you for the replies. I had read the wiki page and unfortunately the references to Flight no longer work as they took their archive off line when they changed owners recently.

[Cornish Jack]

Off direct topic, but related to the Tudor.
The only occasion I know of a Serviceman being charged with "Spreading alarm and despondency" was because of the Tudor. As we know, it was banned from passenger carriage but during the Suez operation at least one was used to carry troops into Aden. One of our Squadron members was a keen aviation buff and, unfortunately, alcoholic. Dozing through the post lunch session he heard the unmistakeable pop and crackle of the Merlins and went to investigate. Unforfunately, he then made it his business to loudly inform the (in transit) pongos that their aircraft was 'unsuitable'. Pleas from the Movements Officer to retract had no effect and he was duly charged. The, somewhat nervous, passengers went on to Nairobi and our hero was 'reduced to the ranks'.
Pope's "A little learning ... exemplified!

[pulse1]

A few years later I joined the local ATC and our CO had been a F/E on LIncolns. He had known the Tudor pilot quite well and knew that, being very short, he occasionally had problems with the seat. He had it raised to the highest level and it sometimes dropped down unexpectedly. (cf. Cessna 172) As the Tudor had the same seating arrangements he wondered if this problem happened on the final stages of the approach. The Llandow runway was quite short with a significant hump in it and might have been critical for a heavy laden Tudor.

[barry lloyd]

Have a look at Wiki Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandow_air_disaster

...and here: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19500312-0

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!]

Both of those links say "a nose-up attitude of 35 degrees to the vertical"

I'm assuming that should be to the horizontal

[Liffy 1M]

There are some very good and indeed poignant images at these links:

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-03-12/70-years-since-the-llandow-air-disaster/
https://home.bt.com/news/on-this-day/march-12-1950-llandow-air-disaster-80-killed-as-rugby-fans-plane-crashes-in-wales-11363967355517
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/gallery/llandow-air-disaster--8807605

[QuePee]

There are some very good and indeed poignant images at these links:

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-03-12/70-years-since-the-llandow-air-disaster/
https://home.bt.com/news/on-this-day/march-12-1950-llandow-air-disaster-80-killed-as-rugby-fans-plane-crashes-in-wales-11363967355517
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/gallery/llandow-air-disaster--8807605

Back in the early 1970's I remember passing a pub in Sigingstone that had a large aircraft wheel complete with tyre leaning up against a tree in the car park. Looking at the pictures in the above posts the wheel in one of them looks exactly like the one I remember. I wonder if it could have been from the Tudor. After all Sigingstone is not far from the crash site!!


QP

[pulse1]

I wonder if it could have been from the Tudor
As Short & Harlands used to carry out major maintenance on Lincolns and Shackletons at Llandow, that wheel was more likely to have come from one of many LIncolns which were scrapped there. I was once nearly arrested by the MODPLOD for pinching stuff off them. As an ATC cadet I used to enjoy the relaxed environment of Llandow to scrounge flights in aircraft not usually available to ATC cadets. e.g. Lincoln, Pembroke and Fairchild Packet.. Some of my braver friends managed Meteor T7 and NF14, Shackleton and Mosquito. I was just getting into it when they closed the place.

[tubby linton]

A policeman’s view of the crash.
http://swplive.blob.core.windows.net/wordpress-uploads/3-HN-Llandow-Air-Disaster.pdf