Stockport
 

Sorry gentlemen but I lived close by and watched the Argonaut come down and it was on a Sunday morning, I went straight to the crash site only to fine I was the only one there! 500 ft from the police station.

Air crash 1967
 

Sorry this info is a bit late but I have only just seen your query. I was married on June 3rd 1967 and had a honeymoon booked for Malgrat de Mar in Spain. We were to fly from Gatwick midday on the Sunday 4th June. In the morning I listened to the radio and heard of the disaster. As my new wife was nervous of flying I kept it to myself. We even flew over the disaster site without realising it and landed in Barcelona. We went to our hotel in Malgrat de Mar and settled in. When we went to the dining room it was half empty and when we enquired why we were told that the Swan Tours Flight that should have brought in the rest of the holidaymakers was the flight that had crashed. The reason for my pre-amble is to let you know how eerie it was to sit in that half empty dining room for the rest of the week. It was just as if we were with the ghosts of those that should have been there.

malgrat 1967
 

you were not in the hotel guillem in malgrat per chance were you>?
we were there a week later, for 2 weeks with my mum and dad,
flew on a british eagle britannia LHR-BCN

my mum also was so nervous after the 2 accidents the weekend previously.
(air ferry dc-4 and BMA argonaut)
the previous year my aunt's neighbour's husband died in the vanguard crash
at LHR, so my mum was terrified of flying.

funny also is that i worked for swans tours in 1974 for 18 months after
court line went bust (swans by then used BKS/northeast Tridents from LHR for their charters,
then joined i BMA at LHR 1977 for many years.:8

The Crew Names......
 

Does anyone remember the full names of the two pilots? I think they may both have been ex RAF.

At the time of this accident I was licenced on both the DC4 and C4 Argonaut, but currently on Britannias.

I never worked for Air Ferry, but for some strange reason I was reported somewhere in the press as having been on board. Fortunately, I was still living with my parents in London, and had been at home when the accident occured. When the chief pilot from my own company called on the phone..........assuming until that point that I had been free-lancing on my days off. (This, of course was not totally unheard of in those days) ...My father was able to explain. I had probably gone off somewhere, because I didn't hear about this until a while later.

From a book (Air Ferry) by Malcolm Finnis:-

Captains name was Ron Pullinger

First officer Bill Isaacs

Thanks for the names. (Neither, it turns out, is remotely similar to my own). If I ever discovered which newspaper included my name, I've long since forgotten. It is always just possible that it was identical to someone else on the manifest and somehow got accidentally cross referenced with an MOT list of people with a UK DC4 endorsement. The Carbon Monoxide angle came as a bit of a shock to many.

Air Ferry DC-4 Crash 3 June 1967
 

To wamwig, England and robbie arrieula, Australia
I yesterday came upon the memorial to those killed in this aircrash, in Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, at the furthest end of Eastern Avenue. It's next to the memorial for those killed in an aircrash at Fernhurst, Sussex in November 1967.

There are a number of Headstones re. the Perpignan crash, in S.E London in Hither Green Cemetery in the Borough of Lewisham, London. Contact them and they will give you the names of those who were buried in the cemetery.

June 1967
 

I have been reading about the accidents in Perpignan and Stockport and wondered if anybody can help me with giving my memory a kick start?
During the early part of 1967, I was posted, as a soldier, from Aden to Francistown, Botswana.
At the end of my stint there, the MoD had to charter an aircraft to get us back to Aden. The reason for this was the Argosy I had arrived on "ruined" the runway. Arriving at the end of the most rainy period in Botswana's history, the Argosy apparently left ruts in the runway on arrival!
Anyway, an aircraft was chartered from Manston. I don't remember the type but I seem to remember the term "Argonaut" being used.
My RAF pal who was responsible for loading and fuelling visiting aircraft was telling me tales of how the aircraft didn't want to balance when empty and of yards of masking tape in use in various places in the hold.
We flew from Francistown to Mombasa and being at night, it was pretty boring, with the exception of the regular appearance of a crew member from the flight deck to what appeared to be a radio equipment bay where he occasionally swapped boxes from one bay to another, with the odd kick. Being a radio technician myself, I fully understood the technique of kicking the damn thing!
As we approached the eastern side of Africa, the aircraft descended and appeared to follow the coast for quite some distance before arriving at Mombasa. Lovely views of the beaches but we were all left wondering if the pilot was using the coast as a route map!
From Mombasa, we flew in a northerly direction until we encountered Djibouti, where we did a right wheel and eventually found Aden.
The aircraft was turned around and headed of back to Francistown to collect more returning soldiers and deliver replacements.
A week or so later, one of my mates from the Botswana posting who had returned after me came into my room, all agog with the news that, according to him, the aircraft we had flown in had just crashed.
I think the aircraft in question was possibly the Air Ferry one that crashed approaching Perpignan.
I wonder if anyone has information on whether or not it was indeed Air Ferry that had been used for these trooping flights?

PS It was not a good year for anyone flying on anything I had previously flown on. Having returned to UK from Aden on an RAF Britannia cas-evac flight in October 1967, I heard the aircraft returned to Aden with mail, spares, nurses etc and failed to stop on the runway at Khormaksar. The aircraft was destroyed but there were apparently no casualties.
Kelvin

Pyrenees accident 1961
 

Why is it that comedy can intrude in even the most tragic circumstances? Obituary for Fleet Street hell-raiser Peter Batt who infamously and unwittingly became for an hour or two 'the story' for his fellow hacks covering the crash. Dates it as 1962 so it seems he is a few months out with his dates.

Fleet St’s legendary sportswriter Peter Batt has died « Sports Journalists' Association

Quote from KelvinDI have made enquiries on your behalf with Malcolm Finnis author of two excellent books on Air Ferry and Invicta (PM me for full details of either - to avoid the advert police) and his reply is as follows
So Kelvin your aircraft should have had a red tail, and round radial engines not the sleek inline profile of the Merlin. I think British Midlands Argonauts would have been far too busy at that time of year, conveying holiday makers to the sun, to go gallivanting off to Africa, by the time the second flight took place they were grounded anyway, I think or about to be.
Hope it helps
David

Invicta charters
 

David,
Many thanks for you efforts.
I have no idea re the colour of the tail as it was dark when we left Francistown and just glad to get off the blooming thing by the time we arrived back in Aden!
Still, I suppose it was better than the outbound flight from Aden to Francistown on an RAF "whistling tit".
Sat on para seats, a piece of canvas stretched between parallel tubes with a net for a safety belt, for 19 hours was not a lot of fun.
After 2 refuelling stops in Nairobi and Chileka (Blantyre), the pilot decided to fly low over Rhodesia for the last leg.
We assumed this was a deliberate provocation of the Rhodesians as relations between the UK government and Ian Smith's regime were at the fist shaking level.
Still, the pilot was good enough to show us Victoria Falls!
Thanks again.
Kelvin

Hi Everyone
 

Well I was just checking the web for pictures of DC4 G-APYK today when I came across this site and in particular this thread.. I'm a collector of anything odd, old or slightly unusual, my wife calls it all rubbish....
Well just two days ago I purchased

Board of trade Civil Aircraft Accident Report printed by Her Majesty's Statioary Office

it is the full accident report to Skymaster DC4 G-APYK
near Mont Canigou, Pyrenees Orientales on the 3rd of June 1967
it is the full report translation of the report issued by the French Ministry of Transport

Also with this purchase came original news paper cuttings & pages from different news papers and a magazine too with a full spread on this plane crash
also a news paper showing the Stockport crash too
Also 3 letters one from the board of trade one from a relative and one to a relative from a solicitors relating to this accident report

So if you need to know any information about this flight then please ask and I will let you know

This is a very interesting lot.....

What brings me here? I guess a somewhat personal history of events, relating to my family and this specific disaster.

My Father told me a story today about my Grandparents in the 1960s. My Grandfather was asked by friends in the summer of 1967 if they would like to join them on a trip to Perpignan. Apparently he was very hopeful of going on this trip and tried to convince my Grandmother to accept the invitation to join the other couple on this holiday. However, my Grandmother was simply afraid of flying and was adamant that she did not want to go. They ended up not going. If they had decided to go, my Mother (aged 12) would have been on the flight also. My Grandmother and Grandfather actually witnessed the flight leave Manston Airport (I believe they watched the plane head off from the vantage point of Sandwich Bay).

Life is so fragile. One moment of history can change everything. My prayers go out to all those who perished in the Perpignan Air Disaster, on behalf of myself and my dear grandparents who blessed my life and are no longer with me.

crash dc4 3rd june 1967
 

Hi
Does anyone have a passenger list for this flight.
Our family seem to remember that a group of lads going on holiday were killed in a crash from their estate around about this time. We are trying to find out if this was the flight that they would of been on. We know the flight crashed into a mountain of some sort.

Passenger list Air Ferry and Lyons Tours, Colne, Lancs.
 

Yes, I've got two newspapers from the 5th June 1967 and the full list of the 88 passengers and crew who lost their lives on Mt Canigou, near Py.

To look at the general area on 'Google Earth', there is a marker on Canigou at about 6800'. It's roughly NW of Py.

For the moment I'm not able to scan and post the page online, but if you can give me a family name, I will check for you.

The accident occurred less than 12 hours before the Stockport Argonaut crash in which another 72 died.
I have posted previously above.... #44 and #46...., but earlier this year, I came across these long forgotten newspapers.


Quoting from the Daily Mail: " It was the ninth aircraft to crash in the Hoodoo area of the Pyrenees, called the Evil Triangle Since 1961".
A DC3 in 1961, and a French owned Viking in 1963 crashed on or near to Canigou. Evil Triangle smacks a bit of UK tabloid speak. I expect the French just call it Canigou.......

Sydenham Bunny6.......This could be it...
 

Since posting earlier, I've just found another newspaper, the Daily Mirror of the same date, June 5th. 1967. A brief report here from an inside page......
( Also includes a photograph of Peter McCormick and girlfriend.)

____________________________________________________________ _______________

Seven youths, who planned a 'flying holiday' over pints in their local pub, died in the Perpignan disaster.

Regulars at the Fox and Hounds in Sydenham heard of their deaths last night.

Landlord Arthur Cooper said, " They were so jovial and well-mannered, and were never any trouble to anyone. They were marvellous people - not an ounce of nastiness in them".

The seven who died were Brian Cavanagh, Barry Hancock, Alan Vincent, John McCormick, Edward Spooner, Brenan Wilson, and David Allen.

All were aged between eighteen and twenty. David lived in Lambeth. The others all came from Sydenham.

Another of the lads at the 'local' - 19 year old Peter McCormick- cancelled his reservation on the same flight at the last minute.
He said last night, " I had to make a choice between getting engaged, and spending £75
on a holiday with the lads.......he got engaged.

Peter, of Earlsthorpe Road, Sydenham, went on: " We were all the greatest of friends. It's terrible that everyone's gone like this. All they wanted was a bit of fun".

thank you.these were the lads we were thinking of.my mother remembered one of the names and there was a
Boy at
My husbands
School whose elder
Brother had died in the crash. My
Mother seems to remember that one of
The boys was
Never recovered and they were all buried together.thankyou for your information as there seems
To be very few people who seem to recollect it
Now.

Air Ferry C54A
 

I flew 02Jun1967 Air Ferry LK101 Manston-Basle on G-ASFY and was at Basle awaiting the return flight. If my memory serves me well, the return was to be operated by Air Ferry which were positioning the aircraft empty from Perpignan. That was the flight that unfortunately did not make it into Perpignan. We eventually returned on LK112 on G-AWIY
Paul

Paul.........

Not G-AWIY, more likely G-ARIY...........

Planemike